.o6{nlQpfos>©o  Dowidl  op 


DUKE 

UNIVERSITY 


LIBRARY 


THE 


FOUNTAIN; 

\\ 

WITH 

JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 

Illustrated  with  One  Hundred  and  Forty-Two  Engravingi 


BY 

ANDREW  JACKSON  DAVIS. 

“  There’s  a  fount  about  to  stream, 

There’s  a  light  about  to  gleam.” 


FIFTH  EDITION. 


BOSTON : 

BANNER  OF  LIGHT 
PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 


Entered  according  to  an  Act  of  Congress,  In  the  year  1870, 
Br  ANDREW  JACKSON  DAVIS, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington 


Trow’s 

Printing  and  Bookbinding  Company, 
205-213  East  i2i 'h  St., 

NEW  YORK. 


/ 


INTRODUCTION. 


One  bright  morning  last  May,  as  I  was  idly  sleeping  at  the  foot  of  a 
grand  mountain,  the  voice  of  a  revered  instructor  said  :  “  Arise  !  Go  up 
to  the  very  top ;  survey  the  ways  of  wisdom  ;  observe  the  needs  of  the 
world  ;  be  healthful  and  hopeful,  and  perform  thy  work.” 

After  journeying  through  a  mass  of  chilly  clouds,  which  clung  to  the 
steep  sides  of  the  mountain,  I  gained  the  glorious  summit.  With  serene 
joy  and  grateful  admiration,  I  gazed  upon  the  magnificence  of  the  heav¬ 
ens,  and  upon  the  loveliness  of  the  earth,  which  were  unfolded  and  dis¬ 
played  in  every  direction.  And  observing  no  human  being  near  me,  and 
feeling  myself  alone  in  the  lofty  solitudes  of  the  mountain,  I  turned 
toward  mankind,  and  said :  “  0  world  !  here  am  I,  after  a  slow  and  toil¬ 
some  progress,  far  away  from  you,  yet  ready  to  work  for  you.  What  will 
you  accept  from  me  ?  ” 

And  suddenly  there  appeared  in  the  beautiful  landscape,  not  far  from 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  A  FOUNTAIN  !  It  was  exceedingly  beautiful 
in  its  strength  and  simplicity.  The  sparkling  water  was  flowing  and  jet¬ 
ting  incessantly.  And  the  waters  of  that  Fountain  seemed  to  be  com¬ 
pounded  of  the  needs  and  wants  and  wishes  of  multitudes,  yea,  hundreds 
of  thousands,  of  warm,  living  human  hearts  ! 

And  in  the  beautiful  light  above  the  fount,  a  friendly  voice  said : 
“Write  a  book,  with  thoughts  for  men  and  pictures  for  children,  which 
the  young  as  well  as  the  matured  can  peruse  with  pleasure  and  profit.” 
After  a  silence,  the  voice  added  :  “  Truth,  Love,  Peace,  Mercy,  Wisdom, 
Labor,  Education,  Religion,  Admonition,  Hope — these  streams,  with  occa¬ 
sional  jets  and  clear  intimations  of  new  meanings,  must  flow  from  the 
Fountain.  To  this  end  employ  little  things.  With  pure  affections  and 


IV 


INTRODUCTION. 


familiar  illustrations  you  must  appeal  to  the  understanding  and  the  heart. 
To  improve  the  human  mind,  and  to  aid  and  enliven  the  world’s  mothers 
and  fathers  and  educators,  you  must  amuse  while  you  instruct.” 

Accordingly,  in  obedience  to  the  voice  of  wisdom,  I  proceeded  to 
“  write,”  and  the  present  volume  is  the  result. 

Employing  every  aid  at  my  command,  I  have  attempted,  with  the  ut¬ 
most  sincerity  of  motive,  to  relieve  the  grave  profundities  and  the  dazzling 
magnitude  of  the  Harmonial  Ideas,  by  the  introduction  of  pleasing  sim¬ 
plicities  which  may  attract  and  instruct  persons  of  every  age  and  in  all 
states  of  feeling.  And  all  deficiencies,  as  well  as  the  omission  of  many 
deeply  important  subjects,  must  be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  this  volume 
is  designed  to  be  simply  the  first  of  a  short  series  of  like  import.  In 
this  book  there  is  no  effort  to  sound  the  very  deep  in  the  treatment  of  any 
question.  The  wish  to  attract  and  enlighten  young  persons — in  short,  to 
reach  the  entire  family  group— is  paramount  to  the  desire  to  impart  ori¬ 
ginal  ideas  to  established  thinkers. 

“  I  have  often  thought,”  remarks  a  scholarly  writer,  “  if  the  minds  of 
men  were  laid  open,  we  should  see  but  little  difference  between  that  of  a 
wise  man,  and  that  of  a  fool.  There  are  infinite  reveries,  numberless 
extravagances,  and  a  succession  of  vanities,  which  pass  through  each.” 
Of  grown-up  men  and  women,  and  of  little  children  and  our  young  folks, 
the  same  reflection  seems  to  be  not  less  applicable.  Whatever  is  truly 
attractive,  pleasing,  and  instructive  to  one  is  likely  to  be  equally  enter¬ 
taining  and  profitable  to  the  other.  It  has  thus  far  been  observed  that, 
among  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  elderly  persons  who  drink  deeply 
and  constantly  at  the  Harmonial  Fountains,  not  more  than  a  few  score  of 
young  people  read  and  enjoy  our  publications  and  principles. 

If  the  flowings  of  this  Fountain  shall  have  the  effect  to  attract  and  in¬ 
struct  young  persons,  while  slacking  the  honest  thirst  of  the  grave  and 
thoughtful,  and  if  the  teachings  of  this  initial  volume  shall  in  some 
degree  assist  parents  and  tutors  in  the  rearing  and  just  education  of  chil¬ 
dren,  the  Author  will  deem  his  industry  amply  rewarded.  And  he  will 
interpret  the  general  acceptance  of  this  work  to  mean  that  additional 
books  in  this  series  are  called  for. 

A.  J.  DAVIS. 

New  Yobk,  September  20,  1870. 


CONTENTS. 


OHAP  PAGE. 

I.  The  Everlasting  0 .  7 

II.  Beauty  and  Destiny  of  Mother  Nature’s  Darlings....  20 

III.  The  Solitudes  of  Animal  Life .  42 

IV.  Indication  of  Reason  in  Animals .  64 

V.  Formation  of  Nationoids  in  America .  64 

VI.  The  Wisdom  of  Getting  Knowledge .  .  82 

VII.  The  Children’s  Progressive  Lyceum .  110 

VIII.  Lyceum  Teachings  for  Children .  123 

IX.  Imagination  as  an  Educational  Force .  137 

X.  Prophetic  Dreams  and  Visions  during  Sleep .  154 

XI.  True  and  False  Worship .  162 

XII.  Origin  and  Influence  of  Prayer .  180 

XHI.  Realms  of  Sorrow  and  Superstition .  200 

XIV.  Effect  of  a  Mistake  in  Religion .  221 

XV.  Omens  and  Signs  among  Religionists .  233 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/fountain01davi 


I. 

The  Everlasting  O. 

mnE  English  alphabet  contains  no  letter  more  re- 
JL  markable  than  the  familiar  fourth  vowel,  0 ; 
with  which,  therefore,  I  have  elected  to  begin  this 
book  of  interior  entertainments. 

The  fifteenth  letter  is  written  and  spoken  more 
frequently  than  any  other  in  the  language,  with  the 


8 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


exception  of  the  superlatively  important  initial,  A. 
This  is  because  no  other  letter  so  spontaneously  ex¬ 
presses  the  many  and  various  feelings  of  the  impress¬ 
ible  spirit.  It  involuntarily  bubbles  up  to  the  tongue, 
in  the  shape  of  an  interjection,  as  the  natural  sound 
of  almost  every  imaginable  emotion — of  surprise,  joy, 
alarm,  aversion,  sorrow,  supplication. 

Bees  do  not  swarm  more  thickly  into  a  clover-field 
than  does  this  letter  crowd  itself  into  the  flowers  of 

literature.  The  very 
existence  of  poetry  de¬ 
pends  upon  the  exist¬ 
ence  of  this  simple 
vowel.  Starting  with 
these  hints,  where  can 
you  not  go  in  tracing 
the  indispensability  of 
this  item  of  the  alphabet  ?  The  en- 
Ifilpfi  tire  structure  of  literature  would 
crumble  should  one  letter  be  with¬ 
drawn.  Thus  we  learn,  that  least 
things  are  necessary  to  the  greatest. 

Let  us  remember, 
right  here,  that  the  first  and  the  last  letters  in  the  Greek 
alphabet  are  A  and  O.  Hence,  in  the  Bible  phrase¬ 
ology,  the  representative  terms,  “  Alpha  and  Omega,” 
are  naturally  used  to  signify  the  beginning  and  the  end. 


THE  EVERLASTING  0. 


9 


A  is  the  first  figure  employed  to  symbolize  the  first 
vocal  sound  made  irresistibly  by  merely  opening  the 
mouth,  with  the  feeling  or  wish  of  utterance  in  the 
heart.  A,  M,  and  O  come  out  of  the  sweet  lips  of 
infants  as  naturally  as  music  flows  from  the  mouths 
of  birds. 

Destroy  the  letter  O,  and  you  annihilate  the  Greek 
language.  And  then,  what  would  become  of  poetry 
and  prayers  ?  “  O  heart  of  fire  !  ”  tell  us  what  would 

be  thy  fate  ?  Men  of  language  !  tell  us  who,  deprived 
of  the  use  of  this  letter,  could  exclaim  “  O,  Lord  !  ”  “  O, 
Mother  Church  !  ”  “  O,  God,  Omnipotent !  ”  Without 
the  sound  of  O,  there  could  be  no  natural  expression 
in  any  language  of  the  emotions  of  joy,  warning, 
admiration,  entreaty,  or  compassion.  In  vain  might 
we  hunt  for  a  substitute 

“  Over  low-lands  forest-grown, 

Over  waters  island-strown, 

Over  silver-sanded  beach  ;  ” 

yet,  forever,  a  better  letter  would  be  beyond  our 
reach  ;  therefore,  O  vowel,  wisely  chosen  !  we  lovingly 
cling  to  thee  through  the  flower-fields  of  literature, 
through  the  quiet  aisles  of  prayer ;  yea,  through  the 
never-ebbing  sea  of  immortal  love  we  will  cling  to 
thee  !  Without  this  letter,  the  following  could  not  exist 
in  any  language : 


10 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


“  For  the  sound  of  waters  gushing 
In  bubbling  beads  of  light ; 

For  the  fleets  of  snow-white  lilies — 

Firm  anchors  out  of  sight ; 

For  the  reeds  among  the  eddies — 

The  crystal  on  the  clod  ; 

For  the  flowing  of  the  rivers, 

We  thank  thee,  oh,  our  God  1 

“For  the  lifting  up  of  mountains 
In  brightness  and  in  dread ; 

For  the  peaks  where  snow  and  sunshine 
Alone  have  dared  to  tread ; 

For  the  dark  of  silent  gorges 
Whence  giant  cedars  nod, 

For  the  majesty  of  mountains, 

We  thank  thee,  oh,  our  God  ! 

“  For  an  eye  of  inward  seeing— 

A  soul  to  know  and  love ; 

For  these  common  aspirations 
Which  our  high  heirship  prove ; 

For  the  tokens  of  thy  presence 
Within,  above,  abroad  ; 

For  thine  own  great  gift  of  being, 

We  thank  thee,  oh,  our  God  1  ” 

What  a  history  of  completeness  and  perfection  is 
the  history  of  this  simple  figure,  O.  About  three 
hundred  aud  fifty  years  before  the  era  of  Christianity, 
Plato  began  the  investigation  of  the  circle.  After  two 
centuries  of  researches  by  different  spiritual  philos- 


THE  EVERLASTING  0. 


11 


ophers  into  the  elements  of  the  circle — the  ellipse 
being  one  of  the  conic  sections — the  figure  remained 
without  further  analysis  for  over  sixteen  hundred 
years.  O  how  long !  At  length,  however,  the 
remarkable  properties  of  our  letter  were  brought  to 
light  through  minute  mathematical  investigation. 

Although  this  book  is  not  designed  to  deal  in 
philosophical  abstractions,  it  cannot  be  deemed  in¬ 
appropriate  to  quote  a  passage  from  the  wise  and 
comprehensive  writer,  J.  W.  Jackson,  of  Glasgow, 
who,  being  a  faithful  spiritual  philosopher,  perceives 
and  affirms  the  spiritual  origin  of  forms  and  figures. 
In  the  London  magazine  entitled  Human  Nature , 
for  June,  1870,  he  thus  comprehensively  describes 
angles,  circles,  and  the  ellipse :  “  The  primordial 

bodies  on  the  cosmic  plane — suns,  planets,  and  their 
satellites — are  spherical,  because  the  sphere  or  uni¬ 
versal  circle  represents  the  perfection  of  a  unitary 
totality,  whereof  they  are  the  primal  reflection  and 
reproduction.  The  circle  in  process  of  formation 
represents  creation  in  evolution.  "When  closed,  by  the 
movement  of  the  radius  vector  over  the  entire  cyclical 
circuit,  it  equally  represents  creation  finished,  and  so 
ready  for  reabsorption  into  the  Divine  unity.  We 
thus  see  that  the  centre  symbolizes  Deity  and  the  cir¬ 
cumference  creation,  the  radius  vector  being  a  pro¬ 
jection  of  the  Divine,  from  the  eternal  sphere  of  the 


12 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


Infinite  One  to  tlie  temporal  plane  of  the  finite  many, 
or  as  the  mystics  would  say,  God  in  manifestation  as 
tlie  Demiurgus,  or  Logos  Creator. 

“  As  the  sphere  or  universal  circle  represents  com¬ 
pleteness  and  perfection,  so  the  cube  or  universal 
square  represents  equipoise  and  strength,  and  thus 
morally  symbolizes  justice  and  power.  It  is  in  every 
direction  equilateral,  and  thus  all  its  angles  are  right 
angles.  It  is  the  symbol  of  being  as  based  on  truth 
and  rectitude.  As  the  sphere,  or  universal  circle,  is 
representative  of  the  unity,  so  the  cube,  or  universal 
square,  is  symbolical  of  the  trinity  of  form — that  is, 
of  height,  length,  and  breadth,  equal  in  dimension, 
yet  diverse  in  direction  ;  that  is  again,  as  the  mystics 
would  say,  co-ordinate  in  rank,  equal  in  power,  yet 
different  in  function.  The  sphere  represents  those 
divine  integers,  eternity  and  infinity,  having  neither 
beginning  nor  end  ;  while  the  cube  or  universal 
square,  on  the  contrary,  symbolizes  time  and  space, 
each  susceptible  of  the  most  rigid  limitation — the 
sequences  of  the  former  implying  definite  periods  of 
duration;  and  the  expanses  of  the  latter  limited  areas 
of  extension,  like  the  lines  and  sides  of  a  cube.  Per¬ 
haps  the  reader  begins  now  to  understand  something 
of  the  Pythagorean  reverence  for  numbers,  and  the 
belief  once  prevalent,  as  to  the  magical  power  of  mathe¬ 
matical  diagrams. 


THE  EVERLASTING  0. 


13 


“  The  circle — and  with  it,  of  course,  the  sphere — 
is  masculine  because  it  is  unitary,  being  formed  on 
one  centre,  and  generated  by  the  movement  of  one 
radius  vector.  An  ellipse,  on  the  contrary,  is  feminine, 
being  formed  on  two  foci,  whose  distance  is  the  test 
of  its  feminity,  the  intervening  area  being  the  sphere 
of  multiplicity.  So  a  square,  or  cube,  is  masculine, 
while  a  parallelogram,  or  parallelopiped,  is  feminine,  the 
continent  lines  of  length  transcending;  those  of  breadth 
or  height,  so  that  it  is  no  longer  the  symbol  of  absolute 
rectitude,  strength,  or  stability.  It  may,  perhaps,  also 
be  observed,  that  both  in  the  ellipse  and  the  parallelo¬ 
gram  the  containing  lines  are  longer  in  proportion  to 
the  area  enclosed  than  in  the  circle  and  the  square.” 

A  perfect  O — which  is  feminine — is  a  perfect 
ellipse.  It  is  the  most  harmonious  mathematical 
figure,  containing  all  the  lines  and  curves  and  elements 
of  beauty;  and  it  is  the  form  of  the  orbits  traversed 
by  the  planets  of  space.  Without  the  O,  the  uni¬ 
versally  useful  “multiplication  table”  would  be  an 
impossibility.  Because,  without  this  plain,  frank  let¬ 
ter  to  stand  with  its  great  meaning  upon  the  right 
hand  of  other  figures,  we  could  never  make  any 
progress  beyond  the  figure  9. 

Therefore  was  I  not  doing  right  to  begin  this  little 
volume  with  the  essential  symbol  of  a  yet  more 
essential  part  of  being?  It  is  a  key  in  every  hand 


14 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


My  pen  needs  but  the  prefix  O,  to  empower  it  to 

“  open  ”  before  you  many 
pioneer  paths  leading  through 
great  mountains  “  of  new 
meanings.” 

Now  let  each  reader 
choose  his  favorite  keel,  with 
which  to  plough  the  sea  of 
spiritual  commerce  and  in¬ 
tellectual  discovery.  Every 

BAILING  OUT  TO  FrND  NEW  MEANINGS.  fegj  m0st  athOIUe 

on  his  own  vessel.  If  you  would  sail  out  upon  life’s 
wide  ocean — if  you  would  search  the 
winter  lands  of  earth  while  on  your 
great  voyage  to  summer  lands,  among 
the  golden  stars  and  beneath  clearer 
skies  on  high — then  enlist  at  once  as 
helmsman  upon  the  best  ship  now 
riding  in  the  harbor  of  your  own  8AIL011’8  0CEAN 
honest  knowledge. 


“  0  lonely  Bay  of  Trinity, 

0  dreary  shores,  give  ear  ! 

Lean  down  unto  the  white-lipped  sea 
The  voice  of  God  to  hear.” 


But  let  all  remember  humility ;  without  O,  yon 
cannot  sail  your  ship  far  out ;  indeed,  without  it  you 


THE  EVERLASTING  0. 


15 


cannot  even  weigh  anchor.  Who  ever  tried  to  write 
anchor  without  the  use  of  the  fifteenth  letter  ? 


▲V  HONEST  MIND  IS  AN  ANCHOR  TO  THE  SOUL. 


Yerj  sweet  and  liquid  is  the  sturdy -looking  half¬ 
vowel,  M !  It  is,  I  freely  confess,  quite  as  necessary 
to  Latin  as  O  is  to  Greek.  But  being  one  of  the  easiest 
to  articulate,  M  is  likely  to  be  the  first  upon  the  rosy 
lips  of  childhood.  It  comes,  O  so  sweetly  !  in  the  first 
utterance  of  “ma.”  And  yet,  somehow,  I  cannot 
yield  the  assertion  that  our  chosen  feminine  ellipse 
is  the  sovereign  letter.  You  cannot  perfectly  articu¬ 
late  M,  except  while  closing  your  mouth  and  com¬ 
pressing  the  lips.  How,  to  try  an  experiment,  step 
before  your  mirror  and  pronounce  the  beautiful  letter 
under  consideration.  O  what  a  fair  countenance  you 
present !  What  an  “  open  ”  mouth  you  immediately 
possess !  Therefore,  sustained  by  such  prime-facial 
evidence,  I  dare  affirm  that  M  is  by  nature  contractive 


16 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


and  conservative ;  while  onr  beautiful  O  is  expansive, 
and  maketh  the  mouth  ready  to  speak  from  “  the 
abundance  of  the  heart.” 

An  Oasis,  without  the  letter  O,  is  impossible. 
The  Libyan  deserts  of  human  life — without  ever-green 
spots,  and  without  fountains  of  musical  waters — would 
destroy  mankind.  “  Orpheus,”  without  our  opening 
letter,  with  all  his  miracles  of  music,  would  drop  out 
of  the  world.  As  suddenly  would  vanish  from  the 
world’s  romantic  literature  the  name  “  Ossian,”  the  son 
of  Fingal ;  and  thus,  too,  would  forever  disappear 
“  Orion,”  and  the  great  universe  of  constellations 
would  know  him  no  more. 

And,  let  me  ask,  what  would  become  of  the  Otto¬ 
man  Empire?  It  would  require  a  greater  than  the 
renowned  Oberlin  to  portray  the  scenes  accompanying 
the  downfall  of  the  house  of  Orleans.  The  lovely 
images  and  picturesque  expressions  of  Ovid,  with  all 
his  pathos,  would  vanish  in  an  instant,  as  would  also 
the  great  agitator,  O’Connell,  and  the  innumerable 
“  O’s  ”  which  mean  so  much  as  a  prefix  to  names  of 
persons  in  the  old,  unhappy  land.  And  unspeakably 
learned  Oxford  would  sink  into  the  place  appointed 
unto  all  unprogressive  institutions. 

Did  you  ever  reflect  that,  without  the  fourth  vowel, 
the  revered  name  of  “  God  ”  could  not  be  written ; 
that,  if  deprived  of  this  talismanic  letter,  we  could 


THE  EVERLASTING  0. 


17 


not  print  the  sacred  words  “  mother,”  “  love,” 
“  home  ;  ”  that,  without  it,  as  if  crushed  by  a  thunder¬ 
bolt,  all  life  would  suddenly  be  deprived  of  its 
“  glory  ;  ”  and  that,  without  it.  the  idea  of  an  eternal 
“  morning  ”  could  never  succeed  to  the  night  and 
gloom  of  existence  ? 

A  great,  strong  anchor,  both  sure  and  steadfast,  we 
therefore  find  in  the  perfect  ellipse — our  initial  letter 
O !  Even  the  name  of 
goodness  is  impossible  with¬ 
out  it;  yet,  happily,  the 
state  of  goodness  is  inde¬ 
pendent  of  all  speech. 

Politicians  profoundly 
realize  the  value  of  this 
vowel  while  laboring  for 
Office,  and  especially  when 
called  upon  to  “  take  the 
Oath.”  Lawyers  depend 
upon  the  fifteenth  letter 
when  orally  opening  cases 
— the  outlines  of  which,  to¬ 
gether  with  the  order  of  the 
offence,  with  objects,  ob¬ 
servations,  obtruding  ob-  C0LD.  AND>  0  ao  DBEART. 
stacles,  optional  or  other¬ 
wise— thus  they  read  and  define  the  oblong  character 
2  ' 


18 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


on  the  obelisks  of  legal  lore  and  sail  ont  upon  the 
broad  ocean  of  ownership. 

And  of  Clergy¬ 
men — what  can  we 
say  ?  “  O  ye  of  lit¬ 

tle  faith  !  ”  From 
over  the  old  ocean 
of  ancient  usages 
the  office  of  the 
ministers  of  the 
“  Holy  One  ”  has 
been  brought  to  the 
res  of  the  new 
continent.  And  by 
virtue  of  that  office, 
and  especially  owing 
to  the  endorsements 
of  custom,  the  clergy- 

“o  PRINCELY  lot!  O  BLISSFUL  ART’.’’  !Uan  IS  U  wholesale 

dealer  in  the  most 
sacred  feelings,  emotions,  and  passions  of  the  human 
breast.  His  language  in  prayer  is  therefore  habitually 
interjectional.  “  How  long,  O  Lord,  how  long  ”  shall 
this  style  of  expression  continue?  is  a  question  not 
yet  answered.  The  templed  mountain  of  Olympus 
does  not  more  truly  o’ertop  the  valleys  than  do  the 
churches  of  to-day  attempt  to  outrank  the  testimonies 


THE  EVERLASTING  0. 


19 


of  Nature.  While  the  office  of  minister  remains,  the 
frequent  and  untrammelled  pronunciation  of  “  O  ” 
must  also  remain,  and  must  be  unfeignedly  respected 
by  all  who  sincerely  believe  in  minisfers. 

Imagine  just  here,  O  friendly  reader  !  the  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  words  from  which  the  letter  O  cannot 
be  for  one  instant  omitted.  Recall  the  phrases  which 
awaken  no  agreeable  emotions.  Are  they  not  north¬ 
erly  and  extremely  cold  words  ?  Do  they  not  come 
breathing  forth  the  chilly  electricities  of  the  frozen 
Hebrides?  Northerly  and  exquisitely  bitter  words, 
freighted  with  sturm  and  snow  and  frost — with  which 
thoughts  and  feelings  of  loneliness  and  desolation  are 
tearfully  intermingled.  For  even  so  sounds,  in  the 
chambers  of  my  inner  hearing,  all  phrases  not  flowing 
from  the  fountain  of  wisdom  and  love. 

Language,  like  the  wave  of  a  magician’s  wand,  can 
suddenly  transform  every  thing  about  us.  Because 
spirit  is  the  fountain  of  feeling  and  wishes,  and  is,  there¬ 
fore,  the  cause  of  words  spoken  by  the  obedient  tongue. 

Let  us,  therefore,  avoid,  as  far  as  possible,  the 
articulation  of  words  which  casts  “  sweet  home  ”  into 
the  dim  and  distant  background  of  life’s  picture.  Let 
us  never  employ  any  language  which  would  hang  our 
master-letter  upon  the  scraggy  limbs  of  some  fruitless 
tree — upon  some  leafless  tree  of  materialistic  knowledge 


II. 

Beauty  and  Destiny  of  Mother  Nature’s  Dar¬ 
lings. 


ATHER.  GOD  calls  to  His  children.  He  calls 
them  not  through  the  bending  domes  and  crum- 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


21 


bling  arches  of  stone  churches  built  with  mortal  bauds. 
But  His  fatherly  voice  comes  through  the  suns  and  stars 
of  the  boundless  firmament ;  through  the  stately  monu¬ 
ments  and  constellations  of  the  universe ;  through  the 
swerveless  laws  of  the  stupendous  whole ;  through 
the  love-breathings  of  the  interior  heart ;  through  the 
6tarry  corridors  of  the  eternal  temple  of  Truth ; 
through  the  winds  and  waves  of  innumerable  oceans , 
through  the  cathedral  solitudes  and  ineffable  perfec¬ 
tions  of  Nature. 

Godless,  indeed,  is  that  religion  which  would 
silence  (or  rate  as  beneath  paper  books)  the  voices 
of  such  living  bibles  and  perpetual  preachers  as  fruit- 
trees,  wild  flowers,  beautiful  birds,  whispering  bees, 
sobbing  seas,  sighing  winds,  snow-covered  mountains, 
and  the  grand  old  pines  and  mighty  oaks  bending  with 
the  weight  and  majesty  of  centuries. 


“  Were  I  in  churchless  solitudes  remaining ; 

Free  from  all  voice  of  churchmen  or  divines, 

My  soul  would  find  in  flowers  of  God’s  ordaining, 

Priests,  sermons,  shrines.” 

Rightly  seen,  every  thing  in  nature  is  a  wise  and 
special  expression  of  divine  affection.  Indians  and 
children  and  poets,  when  in  their  best  moods,  see  the 
Father-Spirit  in  every  place  and  in  all  manifestations. 
Merrily  sings  the  divine  love  in  birds  and  bees  and 


22 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


blossoms.  And  sadlj  sings  the  Infinite  Spirit  through 
the  dark-green  branches  of  mountain  pines,  and  in  the 
unutterable  sounds  of  the  ebbing  and  flowing  sea. 
Infallibly  speaks  the  Eternal  in  the  boundlessness 
and  unchangeability  of  those  invisible  principles  by 
which  all  things  live  and  move  and  have  their 
being. 


LOVE  AND  LABOR  AMONG  FLOWERS  OF  GOD’S  ORDAINING. 


Nature  is  God’s  conjugal  mate ;  she  is,  therefore, 
the  Mother  of  All.  Children,  like  young  birds,  feel 
in  their  hearts  the  life  of  heavenly  liberty.  Girls  not 
less  than  boys  long  for  the  delights  of  the  wide,  open 
fields  and  far-spreading  trees.  Boys,  naturally,  more 
than  girls,  seek  bold  and  boisterous  sports.  Girls  are 
taught  to  seek  and  personate  the  graceful,  to  dwell 
modestly  in  the  quiet  retirements,  and  to  cultivate  the 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


23 


noiseless,  the  impractical,  and  the  beautiful.  This 
teaching  is  founded  in  the  belief  that  girls  are  by 
nature  finer  than  boys.  While  the  truth  is,  they  are 
only  exact  counterparts,  reversed  ;  each  qualitatively 
and  in  substance  like  the  other ;  but  from  exactly 
opposite  sides  of  the  universe.  They  are  born  of  the 
same  mother,  nourished  at  the  same  fountain,  clothed 
by  the  same  hand,  reared  in  the  same  home,  watched 
over  by  the  same  guardian  angels,  pass  through  the 
process  of  death  upon  the  same  safe  principles,  and 
journey  to  brighter  and  fairer  lands  upon  the  same 
celestial  highway. 

But  a  false  system  of  religion,  which  is  as  arbitrary 
as  the  old  fable  which  discriminates  and  establishes  an 
antagonism  between  sheep  and  goats,  has  come  be¬ 
tween  children  and  their  intuitions  of  truth. 

The  beautiful  butterfly, 
which  used  to  represent  the 
idea  of  individual  life  after 
death,  attracts  the  girl  by  its 
beauty  and  the  boy  as  an  ob¬ 
ject  of  pursuit.  Girls  and 
boys  are  drawn  into  the  fields 
by  the  same  healthy,  sensu¬ 
ous  attractions.  While  sisters 


BOYS  ABE  INFLUENCED  BY  THE 
BEAUTIFUL. 


gather  blooming  buttercups, 

their  brothers  chase  the  fleeting  butterflies ;  but  after 


24 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


awhile  they  grow  weary,  and  together  they  soundly 
sleep  among  the  flowers.  They  awaken  in  obedience 
to  the  voice  of  hunger,  and  run  like  deer  to  the  call 
of  mother.  Beauty  in  the  fields,  or  imprisoned  beauty 
(behold,  how  free-born  birds  are  shut  up  like  prisoners 


THE  REFINEMENT  OF  CRUELTY. 


in  cages  !)  exert  the  same  powerful  effect  on  children. 

The  common  charge,  that  boys  are  more  cruel  than 
girls  in  the  wish  to  deprive  innocent  and  feeble  birds 
of  their  liberty,  is  groundless.  The  natural  love  of 
ownership  and  mastery — of  possessing  exclusively  and 
controlling  the  existence  of  that  which  we  love — is  as 
strong  and  formidable  in  one  sex  as  in  the  other. 
Spiritual  culture  eventually  exalts  this  innate  love; 
substituting  beauty  for  tyranny,  and  wise  love  for 
ignorant  and-  selfish  discipline. 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


25 


Men  and  women  associate  freely  together  as  bro¬ 
thers  and  sisters,  and  also  in  the  most  holy  and  del¬ 
icate  relations  of  conjugal  love;  therefore,  why  may 
not  our  boys  and  girls  be  permitted  to  grow  up  to¬ 
gether  in  the  school,  and  in  all  the  departments  of  the 
state,  as  well  as  in  the  home  and  family  circle? 


BOYS  AND  GIRLS  IN  THE  WORLD  TOGETHER. 


A  child  is  a  divine  promise  of  something  better. 

We  are  all  of  us  only  dim,  crude  prophecies. 

Girldom,  with  its  sweet  femininities,  is  promising 

only  when  the  world  of  “  horrid  boys  ”  is  taken  into  the 

account  with  just  valuations.  In  the  family  they  live, 

and  love,  and  fight,  and  laugh,  and  kick,  and  run,  and 

eat,  and  play,  and  sing,  and  cry,  and  grow  up  together. 

Why  not  in  the  affairs  of  that  larger  family,  called  the 

B2 


20  JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 

government,  when  they  attain  to  the  estate  of  men  and 
women  ?  Why  not  ?  Because  a  false  religion,  feeding 
and  flattering  a  false  custom,  insists  peremptorily, 
with  terrible  penalties  of  excommunication  from  “good 
society,”  that  girls  shall  forever  dress  unlike  boys, 
shall  studiously  refrain  from  running  and  climbing, 
shall  make  no  visible  demonstrations  of  bodily  vigor, 
and  shall  do  nothing  and  be  nothing  inconsistent 
with  the  established  masculine  rules  of  feminine  pro¬ 
priety. 

The  dress  of  a  girl  is  constructed  so  that  it  is  cer¬ 
tain  to  trammel  her  limbs,  pervert  her  growth,  derange 
the  functions  of  the  bodily  organs,  and  in  truth  en¬ 
danger  the  safety  of  her  physical  existence.  Her 
younger  brother  can  freely  and  fearlessly  climb  hill¬ 
sides,  race  through  the  wildwoods,  leap  fences,  and 
play  like  other  darlings  on  the  bosom  of  Nature.  But 

only  dare  to  let  her  go  out 
with  her  brother,  and  lo ! 
owing  to  her  dress,  she  falls 
headlong  over  the  straight 
gate  of  pharisaical  propri¬ 
ety,  and  is  “  providentially 
saved,”  if  her  beautiful  life 
is  not  forever  crushed  against 
the  rocks  of  a  blind  and 


LET  HER  FOLLOW  THE  FASHIONS. 


bigoted  custom. 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


27 


Nature,  who  is  our  graceful  and  ever-loving 
mother,  infallibly  teaches  her  children  the  right  way 
and  the  whole  Truth.  She  teaches  her  girls  that  it  ie 
their  highest  duty  to  become  whatever  they  can  be¬ 
come,  and  to  do  whatever  they  can  do ;  the  criterion 
of  right  being,  that  the  result  of  such  being  and  doing 
is  genuine  happiness  to  themselves  and  lasting  benefit 
to  mankind. 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS  SOMETIMES  NEED  WASHING  AND  COMBING. 


Different  ambitions  and  different  aspirations  burn 
within  different  temperaments.  Sex  does  not  infallibly 
determine  the  nature  and  quality  of  this  ambition,  or 
aspiration  ;  neither  is  it  possible  for  mere  sex  to  in¬ 
dicate  and  limit  and  establish  the  sphere  of  its  most 
effective  manifestation. 

The  masculine  positive  temperaments,  which  are 


28 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


the  mediums  through  which  the  man-organization 


makes  itself  manifest, 
are  aggressive  in  their 
very  nature.  And  yet 
it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that  some  women 
are  in  this  respect  equal, 
if  not  superior,  to  some 


A  PLAN  FOR  COMPELLING  THE  EARTH  TO 
ACCEPT  bEEU. 


men  ;  but  habits  and  education,  as  much  as  tempera¬ 
ment  and  sex,  have  great  sway  in  determining  the 
manifestations  of  any  personality.  Habits  exert  a 
subtle  influence.  Women,  especially  among  the  an¬ 
cient  Romans,  by  systematically  educating  their  mus¬ 
cles,  and  by  abstaining  from  all  intoxicating  drinks, 
developed  noble  mothers  and  a  hardy  race  of  sons. 
The  Romans  were  famous  for  their  health,  strength, 
and  endurance.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  Roman  and 
Spartan  mothers  were  physically  stronger  and  more 
enduring  than  many  of  the  men  and  fathers  in  our 
more  refined  era. 

Still,  there  is  a  constitutional  difference  between  a 
woman-nature  and  a  man-nature  which  lies  deeper 
than  any  habits  or  circumstances — a  difference  which, 
although  absolute  and  essential,  is  not  necessarily  an¬ 
tagonistic.  This  sex-difference  was  illustrated  by  Mr. 
R.  Grant  White,  in  an  account  he  somewhere  pub¬ 
lished,  in  substance,  as  follows :  “  Some  years  ago, 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


29 


before  monitors  or  even  iron-clad  ships  were  thought 
of,  the  enormous  and  now  utterly  useless  man-of-war 
Pennsylvania  lay  at  the  Washington  navy -yard. 
Much  had  been  expected  of  her,  and  her  colossal  size, 
and  her  enormous  battery  of  one  hundred  and  twenty 
guns,  were  looked  upon  with  pride  by  all  ‘  true 
Americans.’  It  was  determined  that  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  accompanied  by  the  members  of 
his  Cabinet,  the  principal  officers  of  the  army  and 
navy,  and  other  persons  of  like  distinction,  should  visit 
her  for  an  ‘inaugural’  entertainment,  and  that  in 
honor  of  the  occasion,  he  and  they  should  be  saluted 
by  the  discharge  of  all  her  guns.  The  gentlemen  were 
accompanied  by  a  large  number  of  ladies,  and  a  more 
numerous  and  representative  party  was  probably  never 
gathered  together  on  the  decks  of  a  national  vessel. 
The  salute  began,  and  the  rapid  discharge  of  the 
heavy  ordnance  produced  a  remarkable  effect  on  the 
civilian  visitors.  Very  soon  the  men  were  stunned  or 
worried,  and  showed  strong  symptoms  of  nervous 
anxiety.  The  women,  on  the  contrary,  to  the  sur¬ 
prise  of  all,  showed  no  fear,  but  rather  delight,  and 
were  cheerfully  excited,  not  concealing  an  inclination 
to  laugh  at  and  crow  over  the  nervous  weakness  of 
their  masculine  companions.  The  firing  went  on,  and 
became  a  protracted  and  apparently  endless  series  of 
regular  explosions.  For  the  discharge  of  one  hundred 


30 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


and  twenty  guns  at  intervals  of  only  three  seconds 
occupies  six  minutes,  measured  by  three-second  counts, 
even  in  silence,  seem  as  if  they  would  never  end.  But 
when,  as  in  this  case,  each  interval  is  marked  by  a 
roar  that  stuns  the  ears  and  a  concussion  that  shakes 
the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  tills  the  air  with  flame 
and  smoke,  the  performance  becomes  oppressive  and 
tries  nervous  endurance  to  the  utmost.  And  on  this 
occasion  a  striking  natural  phenomenon,  full  of  moral 
significance,  was  presented  to  the  curious  student  of 
human  nature.  It  was  observed  that  as  gun  followed 
gun,  the  men,  who  were  so  disturbed  at  first,  became 
quiet,  self-possessed,  indifferent,  and  at  last  cheerful, 
while  the  women,  who  at  first  were  so  filled  with  life 
and  gayety,  soon  showed  signs  of  weariness,  then  of 
nervous  excitement,  and  finally  of  terror,  looking  for¬ 
ward  with  dread  to  the  inevitable  and  regularly-recur¬ 
ring  shock  ;  so  that  before  the  salute  was  over  most 
of  them  were  in  a  state  of  extreme  distress,  some  were 
hysterical  and  some  had  fainted.  Their  nerves  could 
bound  with  elasticity  at  a  single  fillip,  but  succumbed 
under  repeated  blows ;  while  the  masculine  nature 
toughened  under  resistance  to  the  protracted  strain.” 

The  difference  between  the  man-temperaments  and 
the  woman-temperaments,  is  forcibly  illustrated  in  the 
foregoing  incident. 

The  man-temperament  (which  is  sometimes  also 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


31 


powerfully  manifested  in  woman),  is  the  temperament 
for  pioneering,  forth-pushing,  domineering,  engineer 


A  MASCULINE  INVENTION  FOR  OVERCOMING  THE  WORLD. 


ing,  centrifugating.  Man’s  implements  and  inventions 
are  designed  for  assailing,  overcoming,  crushing, 
destroying,  and  reforming.  Man’s  hand  grasps  instru¬ 
ments  for  subduing  the  earth.  Look  at  the  breaking- 


up  plow.  Look  at  the  seed-drill  and  the  following  har¬ 
row  ;  the  compression  and  soothings  of  the  roller;  at 
the  ponderous  hammer  and  the  anvil ;  at  the  mighty 
forces  harnessed  together  in  the  machine-shop  ;  at  the 
pulverizing  energies  of  the  mill  ;  at  the  great  cities ; 
at  the  dwelling-houses  and  immense  factories  ;  at  the 


32 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


strong  wagons  for  carrying 
lumber,  stone,  and  iron ; 
at  the  steamboats  for  riding 
rivers,  lakes,  and  oceans  ; 
at  the  railroads  and  loco¬ 
motives  made  to  accom¬ 
plish  Jupiter-like  labor ;  at 
the  wire  paths  for  light¬ 
ning  under  oceans  and 
around  the  great  globe ! 
And  think,  too,  of  the  discovery  and  settlement  of  new 
countries. 

These  tools,  these  ambitions, 
these  achievements,  these  broad 
and  mighty  enterprises,  are  crowd¬ 
ed  by  mother  Nature  into  the  rest¬ 
less  hearts  and  into  the  incessantly 
pleading  hands  of  her  children — 
into  the  open  hands  and  prayerful 
hearts  of  women  and  men  alike — 
and  then  only  time  and  circumstances,  and  the  spirit’s 
faithfulness  to  its  own  interior  convictions,  can  deter¬ 
mine  which  sex,  and  what  particular  individuals  amoi  g 
men  and  women,  are  most  attracted  and  adapted  to 
the  grand  ends  and  uses  in  contemplation. 

Man’s  force- and-d rive  elements  combine  naturally 
and  fruitfully  with  woman’s  elements  of  power-and- 


k  MILL  FOR  CRUSHING  AND  PULVERIZING. 


MOTIIER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


33 


aspiration.  Her  power,  which  is  noiseless  and  spirit¬ 
ual,  while  it  requires  less  brain  for  its  manifestation. 


MAKING  INSTRUMENTS  FOR  ASSAULT  AND  CONQUEST. 


vet  demands  a  far  more  compact  and  impressible 
physical  organism.  Man’s  force,  which  is  full  of  noise 
and  derived  from  the  soul  (which  in  this  life  is  the 
spirit’s  fulcrum  or  harness),  requires  a  larger  brain, 
more  physical  body,  and  a  harder-knit  frame.  But, 
taken  together,  and  viewed  and  compared  as  to  their 
relative  endowments  and  real  modes  of  expression,  it 
will  be  found  impossible  to  establish  the  least  radical 
or  fundamental  inferiority  or  superiority  between  men 
and  women.  They  are  both  mother  Nature’s  darlings  ; 
and  my  counsel  to  them  is  :  Obey  Nature. 

Nature,  in  the  largest  sense,  is  adequate  to  every 

emergency.  She  tells  woman  what  to  do,  and  how  to 
3  15 


34 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


do  it,  as  she  also  tells  and  instructs  man.  But  saint 
Custom,  whose  mandates  are  proclaimed  by  masculine 
priests  upon  the  house-tops,  and  especially  for  the 
benefit  of  the  multitudes  of  worshipping  listeners, 
says :  “  Wives  and  daughters !  you  shall  not  par¬ 
ticipate  in  either  of  the  bravc-and-dare  vocations 
proper  alone  to  man.  Behold  !  the  gulf  between  the 
sphere  and  labors  of  woman  and  the  sphere  and  labors 
of  man,  is  impassable.  You  must  be  self-indulgent 
and  prone  to  luxury,  and  devoted  to  the  cultivation 


CULTIVATING  A  TASTE  FOB  DISPLAY. 


of  those  delicate  arts  and  winning  ways  by  which  rude 
man,  self-denying  and  inured  to  hardship,  is  easily  led 
and  beneficially  governed.” 

The  fiat  has  gone  forth  !  Henceforth  your  wives  and 
daughters  must  unquestioningly  obey.  Behold  the 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


35 


fruits  thereof!  They  are  forthwith  beautifully  helpless 
and  full  of  demand.  They  will  do  nothing  practically 
to  enrich  themselves.  They  long  for  the  thousand  and 
one  pretty  ornaments  and  magnificent  dresses  of  the 
reigning  fashion  ;  for  the  feathers  and  laces  and  ribbons 
and  curls;  and  for  the  artificial  flowers  and  grasshop¬ 
pers  for  head  ornaments, — all  these  crowd  into  the 
feminine  imagination  with  aggravating  profusion. 
Meanwhile  men’s  imaginations  are  exasperatingly 
wrought  up  to  the  problem  of  supporting  all  •  this 
uncontrollable  folly ;  to  which  few  of  them  dare 
openly  oppose  their  will ;  for  they,  too,  are  largely 
involved  in  the  popular  magnetism  of  a  despotic,  im¬ 
placable,  and  diabolizing  fashion.  Thus  the  boys  and 
men  give  their  time  to  machinery  and  to  the  mulplica- 
tion  of  world-subduing  inventions  ;  while  the  girls  and 
women  are  passing  their  time  in  constructing  the  home- 
beauties,  and  in  multiplying  the  manifold  fleeting 
attractions  of  personal  exist¬ 
ence. 

By  this  false  state  is  estab¬ 
lished  that  modern  absurdity, 
known  as  a  fashionable  parlor, 
which  leads  one  to  ask  :  “  IIow 
many  people  do  we  call  on 
from  year  to  year,  and  know 
no  more  ot  their  feelings,  Habits,  tastes,  family 


STf  . 


GIRLS  MUST  GROW  LIKE  THE 
DAISIES. 


36 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


ideas  and  ways,  than  if  they  lived  in  Kamtschatka? 
And  why  ?  Because  the  room  which  they  call  a 
front  parlor  is  made  expressly  so  that  you  shall 
not  know.  They  sit  in  a  back  room — work,  talk, 
read  perhaps.  After  the  servant  has  let  you  in  and 
opened  a  crack  in  the  shutters,  and  while  you  sit 
waiting  for  them  to  change  their  dress  and  come  in, 
you  speculate  as  to  what  they  may  be  doing.  From 
some  distant  region  the  laugh  of  a  child,  the  song  of  a 
canary  bird,  reaches  you,  and  then  a  door  claps  hastily 
to.  Do  they  love  plants?  Do  they  write  letters,  sew, 
embroider,  crochet?  Do  they  ever  romp  and  frolic? 
What  books  do  they  read  ?  Do  they  sketch  or  paint  ? 
Of  all  these  possibilities  a  mute  and  muffled  room  says 
nothing.  ...  A  sofa,  six  chairs,  two  ottomans,  fresh 
from  the  upholsterer’s,  a  Brussels  carpet,  a  centre 
table,  with  four  gilt  books  of  beauty  on  it,  a  mantel 
clock  from  Paris,  two  bronze  vases — all  these  tell  you 
only  in  frigid  tones :  ‘  This  is  the  best  room,’  —  only 
that  and  nothing  more :  and  soon  she  trips  in  in  her 
best  clothes,  and  apologizes  for  keeping  you  waiting, 
asks  you  how  your  mother  is,  and  you  remark  that  it 
is  a  pleasant  day,  and  thus  the  acquaintance  progresses 
from  year  to  year.” 

The  mind  and  its  affections  grow  to  resemble  in 
6hape  and  feeling  that  upon  which  they  constantly  feed  ; 
and  from  the  structure  and  affections  of  the  mind 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


37 


we  derive  and  establish  “character.”  Men,  for  exam¬ 
ple,  think  and  work  upon  the  world’s  dry  hard  facts ; 
and  thus  men’s  characters  and  dispositions  become  dry 
and  severe.  Women  of  fashion,  on  the  contrary,  with 
a  devotion  and  perseverance  worthy  of  a  better  cause, 
are  meanwhile  reading  the  sweet  nothings  of  literature, 
or  listlessly  sleeping  the  pleasant  hours  away  among 
flowers,  and  their  characters  exactly  correspond  to 
their  mode  of  life. 


GIRLS  AND  BOYS  SOMETIMES  WORK  TOGETHER. 


It  is  recorded  that  one  of  the  curiosities  that  is  con¬ 
tinually  presenting  itself  to  the  census-taker  is  the 
large  number  of  young  women  who  are  found  listlessly 
dawdling  about  houses,  poring  over  the  last  new 
novel,  or  thrumming  Offenbachian  melodies  on  patient 
pianos,  and  this  too  often  in  poor  families,  where  the 


38 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


mother  is  busy  with  the  manifold  cases  of  household 
duties,  which  could  be  materially  lightened  by  the 
assistance  of  her  daughters. 

Testimony  by  a  woman,  which  fully  justifies  the 
strength  of  the  charge  herein  made,  is  undisguisedly 
thus :  “  In  the  nursery  the  mother  is  called  upon  to 
set  forward  the  same  injustice  which  presided  over 
her  own  education.  ‘  Preaching  down  a  daughter’s 
heart,’  the  beautiful  phrase  of  Tennyson,  becomes  the 
duty  of  every  woman  who  finds  in  her  daughter 
saliency  of  intellect  and  individuality  of  will.  Medi¬ 
ocrity  is  the  standard  !  ‘  Seek  not,  my  child,  to  go 


EMBLEMS  OP  FASHIONABLE  EMOTIONS. 


beyond  it.  Thou  hast  thy  little  allotments.  The 
French  must  be  thy  classics,  the  house  accounts  thy 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


39 


mathematics.  Patchwork,  cooking,  and  sweeping  thy 
mechanics ;  dress  and  embroidery  thy  fine  arts.  See 
how  small  the  sphere.  Do  not  venture  outside  of  it, 
nor  teach  thy  daughters,  when  thou  shalt  have  such, 
to  do  so.’  And  so  we  women,  from  generation  to 
generation,  are  drilled  to  be  the  apes  of  an  artificial 
standard,  made  for  us  and  imposed  upon  us  by  an  out¬ 
sider  ;  a  being  who,  in  this  attitude,  becomes  our 
natural  enemy.” 

Thus  the  difference  in  the  conduct  of  life  between 
men  and  women  in  popular  society,  is  founded  in  the 
difference  established  through  their  unjust  education 
and  dissimilar  habits.  Inasmuch  as  men  and  women 
are  derived  from  the  same  fountain  of  divine  life,  are 
compounded  of  identical  elements,  and  have  a  common 
destiny  in  the  grand  progressive  career  of  eternity  ; 
therefore  they  should  learn  at  once,  and  practically, 
to  make  less  educational  difference  on  account  of  sex 
in  their  tastes,  professions,  interests,  duties,  labors,  and 
emoluments. 

There  is  an  unfathomable  pit  of  injustice  in  that 
social  structure  which  makes  labors,  rewards,  pleas¬ 
ures,  vices,  crimes,  and  the  enactment  and  enforcement 
of  laws,  turn  upon  the  shallow  question  of  sex.  Any 
theory  of  life,  religion,  or  government,  which  un¬ 
balances  the  divine  equilibrium  of  Justice,  in  effect 
evolves  and  confirms  a  wicked  warfare  between  men 


to 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


and  women,  and  should  be  consigned  with  the  popular 
theology  to  the  pit  of  oblivion.  It  establishes  a 


EVERY  WIFE,  AND  ESPECIALLY  EVERY  MOTHER,  IS  ENTITLED  TO  A  “  HOME  ” 
(FREE  OF  ALL  DEBTS  AND  DEMANDS). 


wicked  antagonism  between  the  two  sides  of  the 
human  universe. 

The  inculcations  of  this  chapter  are  easily  summed 
up  :  Let  your  boys  and  girls  run  out  into  the  beautiful 
world,  and  let  them  grow  as  they  play  together ;  for 
very  soon,  as  men  and  women,  they  will  together  lay 
the  foundations  of  future  families,  societies,  states,  and 
nations. 

Babyhood  first,  then  childhood,  next  youth,  and 
then,  O  how  quickly,  in  this  whirling  world  ! — come 
womanhood  and  manhood  ;  lastly,  old  age,  and  then — • 


MOTHER  NATURE’S  DARLINGS. 


41 


by  the  revolution  of  time’s  wheel — a  certificate  from 
earth’s  school-masters,  entitling  the  bearer  to  a  full 
College-course  in  some  of  the  many  mansions  “  not 
made  with  hands.’’ 

Forever  let  Love’s  scepter  remain  in  the  soft, 
honest,  kingly  right  hand  of  Wisdom.  Infinitely  fairer 
and  higher  will  grow  the  world — less  thorny  and  bit¬ 
ter,  less  cold  and  desolate,  less  miserable  and  unjust, 
will  seem  our  pathway — if  men,  instead  of  perpetuat¬ 
ing  the  errors  and  cherishing  the  superstitions  of  a 
former  age,  would  obey  the  voice  of  God,  speaking 
infallibly  through  the  mouth  of  our  universal  loving 
mother  Nature. 


III. 

The  Solitude  of  Animal  Life. 

IT  must  be  remembered  that  plants,  in  all  tbeir  vast 
varieties,  are  only  parts  of  animals ;  that  animals 
are  only  parts  of  human  organizations ;  and  that  the 
all-embracing  perfection  of  the  human  structure  com¬ 
pletes  and  coronates  the  eternal  mountains  of  life. 

Like  all  incomplete  forms  of  life  and  animation, 
however,  these  manifold  fragments  of  the  one  growing 
organism,  are  happily  unconscious  of  their  own  incom¬ 
pleteness.  In  themselves,  and  when  not  contrasted 
with  man’s  microcosmic  structure  and  transcendent 
mental  endowments,  all  the  plants  and  animals  are 


SOLITUDE  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE. 


43 


perfect,  and,  of  course,  possess  no  per  se  consciousness 
of  individual  imperfection. 

The  surpassing  beauty  and  sympathetic  wisdom 
manifested  in  all  these  kingdoms  of  Nature  cannot 
but  unfold  in  man  holy  meditations  of  Deity. 

But  owing  to  the  innate  imperfections — the  intrin¬ 
sically  partial  instinctiveness  and  automatic  imbecil¬ 
ities  of  the  animal’s  heart  and  intellect,  its  life  must  be 
essentially  solitary.  The  profound  abysses  of  seas  and 
oceans — the  dreary  wastes  of  swampy  wildernesses — 
the  lonely  caves  hidden  in  the  dark  bosoms  of  great 
mountains  slumbering  in  the  unexplored  hearts  of  con¬ 
tinents — these  are  the  homes  of  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  animals ! 

What  can  be  more  overcharged  with  loneliness 
than  the  life  of  an  ignorant  man  ?  What  solitude  is 
profounder  than  the  cheerless,  obscure,  deeply-shaded 
brain  of  an  idiotic  human  mind  ?  “  The  foxes  have 

holes  ”  in  the  mountains  of  solitude  ;  and  the  “  birds 
of  the  air  have  nests”  in  the  sacred  stillness  of  the 
forest ;  but  widely  over  them  all,  as 
upon  all  the  kingdoms  below  the 
human,  hangs  and  broods  the  affec- 

Everywliere  around  man  are  affec¬ 
tionately  living  and  dependently  clus- 


tionate  and  solitary  night  of  imper¬ 
fection. 


NOTHING  LIVES  IN 
VAIN. 


44 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


tering  millions  upon  millions  of  objects — little  beings, 
below  man’s  estate,  manifesting  wondrous  beauty  of 
structure  and  incomparable  wisdom — existing  in  ser¬ 
vant-states  of  subordination,  each  inspired  with  the 
holy  mission  of  feeding  upon,  refining,  and  lifting 
lower  and  gross  atoms  of  matter,  so  that  such  atoms 
can  feed  and  fellowship  with  the  sovereign  needs  of 
the  crowning  human  kingdom. 

Apparatus  upon  apparatus  exists 
in  full  action — the  steady- grinding 
mills  of  God — animated  by  and  obe¬ 
dient  to  the  infinite  law  of  Progress. 

These  living  mills — the  bees,  bugs, 
reptiles,  rats,  creeping  things,  vines, 
plants,  insects,  birds,  slugs,  worms, 
weevil — are  hard  at  work,  both  day  and  night,  in 
order  to  receive  and  advance  grossest  particles  for 
the  nourishment  and  development  of  mankind. 


GREAT  WORKERS  IN 
THE  WOODS. 


LITTLE  MILLS  FOR  REFINING  GROSS  MATTER. 


And  these  refining  organized  mills — these  infinitely 
diversified  and  wondrously  beautiful  little  creatures — 
live  in  the  great  solitudes  of  the  globe  ;  in  the  in- 


SOLITUDE  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE. 


45 


accessible  fortresses  of  rocks,  in  the  watery  deeps  of 
great  rivers,  in  the  hiding  places  of  the  boundless 
fields,  and  everywhere,  in  the  countless  dark  retire¬ 
ments,  throughout  the  wide  extents  of  nature.  And  I 
think  it  is  well  worth  remembering  that  there  are  no 
artificial  contrivances,  no  instruments  or  mills  invented 
by  man,  which  can  be  compared,  either  as  to  the 
amount  or  the  perfection  of  the  labor  performed,  with 
the  results  of  the  incessant  industry  of  the  plants  and 
animal  organisms  in  Nature’s  magnificent  workshops. 


BIRDS  LIVE  FOR  THE  GOOD  OF  THE  WHOLE. 


The  holy  affectionateness  manifested  by  birds  should 
beneficially  impress  every  true  mind.  My  admiration 
is  challenged,  as  much  as  my  heart  is  impressed  to 
worship,  when  I  see  the  beauty  and  hear  the  early 
6ongs  of  birds.  They  are  our  great  Mother’s  “  wander¬ 
ing  minstrels,”  who,  like  angel-pioneers,  explore  the 
solitudes  of  the  world,  and  then  bashfully  shrink  from 
observation  within  the  starry  temple  of  night. 


46  JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 

Birds  are  forms  of  affection.  They  are,  therefore, 
extremely  impressible  and  impulsive,  and  are  in¬ 
fluenced  by  very  fine  and  imperceptible  circumstances. 
They  sing  their  truest  songs — that  is,  their  vocaliza¬ 
tions  are  most  spontaneous  and  musically  freighted — 
when  electrical  “  conditions  ”  of  the  hour  are  balanced 
and  harmonious.  If  the  morning  light  and  after  sun 
shine  are  just  right — if  the  shrubs  and  vines  along  the 
walls  are  truly  graceful  and  poetical — if  the  cloudy 
shy  does  not  cast  a  too  deep  shade  upon  orchards  and 
verges  of  forests — then,  on  that  day,  you  may  expect 
some  great  music  from  robins,  bobolinks,  song-spar¬ 
rows,  linnets,  and  meadow-larks. 

The  sounds  of  birds  express  feelings  and  emotions  ; 
not  thoughts  and  wishes,  which  imply  reflection. 
They  embody  in  their  songs  the  sensations  of  love-laden 
bosoms ;  which  are  sometimes  happy,  sometimes  fear¬ 
ful,  sometimes  angry,  sometimes  coquettish,  sofnetimes 
filled  with  aversion,  sometimes  overflowing  with  fond¬ 
ness  and  joy ;  thus  resembling,  rudimentally  and 
germinally,  the  higher  human  heart  when  not  gov¬ 
erned  by  reflection  and  wisdom. 

What  must  we  think  of  that  boy  who  could  de¬ 
liberately  shoot  or  stone  the  world’s  loving  minstrels? 
Behold  the  wonderfully  beautiful  nest  of  a  brooding 
bird  !  With  what  unutterable  aversion  must  we 
regard  a  boy  who  could  deliberately  climb  a  tree 


SOLITUDE  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE. 


47 


in  order  to  frighten  away  the  motherly  brooding 

bird,  and  then 
steal  the  suppli¬ 
cating  and  de¬ 
pendent  little 
ones  which  con¬ 
tain  her  heart’s 
warm  love  and 
beauty  ? 

Remember, 
ye  robbers  and 
despoilers  of  the 
weak  and.  inno- 

PUNISHMENT  OB  A  NEST-ROBBER. 

cent  !  —  remem¬ 
ber  that  the  sleepless  justice,  not  less  than  the  sustain¬ 
ing  love,  of  the  Unchangeable  Spirit  lives  and  rules  in 
the  life  of  the  tiny  plant  and  in  the  smallest  animal  of 
the  globe ;  and,  likewise,  remember  that  whatsoever 
“ye  do  to  the  least  of  these  my  little  ones,”  is  done  by 
you  against  the  divine  law  of  your  immortal  life  ;  and 
the  consequence  is,  that  by  the  inflexible  and  unavoida¬ 
ble  judgment  meted  out  by  the  just  laws  of  that 
eternal  life,  your  punishment  and  your  mortification, 
for  every  kind  and  shade  of  offence,  will  be  absolutely 
certain — either  in  some  day  in  this  world,  or  in  some 
one  of  your  countless  estates  in  the  great  infinity  int» 
which  you  are  perpetually  travelling. 


48 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


There  is,  however,  another  side  to  our  charitable 
estimate  of  the  beautiful  uses  of  bugs,  slugs,  grubs, 
flies,  insects,  worms,  weevil,  lice,  mice,  midge,  &c. 
which  is,  that  they  exist,  in  connection  with  man’s 
dealings  with  himself  and  the  globe,  as  the  legitimate 
effects  of  such  avoidable  causes  and  conditions  as  filth, 
abuse,  exhaustion,  devastation,  and  slovenly  habits. 


ANIMATED  MILLS  AT  WORK  IN  THE  WILDWOOD. 


Hence  a  truly  advanced  and  spiritualized  state  in 
our  common  humanity — manifested  in  cleanliness  in 
mental  and  bodily  life,  and  in  refinements  and  purifica¬ 
tions  extended  throughout  the  gardenized  fields  and 
fertilized  farms — will  destroy  these  innumerable  ad¬ 
versaries  to  man’s  comfort,  respectability,  and  pros¬ 
perity. 

The  millions  upon  millions  of  dollars  lost,  by  the 
ravages  of  various  prowling  birds  and  hungry  insects, 
are  legitimate  punishments  for  neglect,  abuse,  outrages, 
or  inexcusable  ignorance.  Of  course,  when  the  little 


SOLITUDE  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE. 


49 


legitimate  workers  come — when  caterpillars,  worms, 
grasshoppers,  and  lice  arrive  in  vast  hosts  in  order  to 
help  on  the  work  of  the  globe’s  refinement,  which  man 
should  have  prevented  by  his  superior  wisdom  and 
industry — yes!  when  the  innumerable  little  “  mills  of 
God  ”  have  come — crawling  upon  their  white  bellies, 
running  upon  their  many  legs,  flying  upon  the  millions 
of  hot-sounding  wings,  boring  with  their  sharp  horns, 
biting  with  their  needle-teeth — yes,  O  man !  when 
these  friends  come,  thou  should’st  be  very  kind  to  them 
in  thy  great  sorrow,  and  should’st  learn  wisdom  amid 
the  surrounding  devastations. 

Birds,  let  it  be  remembered,  are  the  great  field- 
allies  and  inseparable  friends  of  mankind.  They  in¬ 
stinctively  aid  man  in  the  destruction  of  his  countless 
enemies,  which  hide  themselves  in  the  cellars  of  trees 
and  plants,  and  in  the  germ-grains  of  the  harvest- 
fields.  Therefore,  he  who  destroys  these  feathered 
sentinels  is  inflicting  vast  and  irreparable  losses  upon 
the  agriculturalists  and  fruit-growers ;  to  say  nothing 
of  the  wrong  done  to  the  thousands  of  poor  families 
who  depend  upon  the  crops  for  the  means  of  life. 

One  mill  of  organized  life  feeds  upon  another;  so 
all  the  wheels  turn ;  and  every  hopper  grinds  out  its 
allotted  grist.  Although  it  is  true  that  worms,  wee¬ 
vil,  lice,  flies,  and  bugs  arise  from  the  grossest  condi¬ 
tions  of  material  imperfection — and  from  human 
4  C 


50 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


ignorance,  human  filth,  human  abuses,  and  human 
vagabondage ;  yet,  intimately  associated  with  them, 
there  also  come  great  swarms  and  flocks  of  hungry 
workers  (the  various  insect-eating  birds  of  the  air), 
which  “  mean  business,”  and  which  at  once  set  about 
helping  man  to  clean  up  his  dirty  ways,  and  thus  to 
purity  his  miserable  life.  Yes,  these  same  mice,  lice, 
grasshoppers,  &c.,  which  come  like  a  mighty  army  of 
Goths  and  Yandals — ruthless  invaders  of  man’s  fields 
and  habitations — are  only  so  many  crude  immigrants, 
great  laborers  and  indispensable  “  field-hands,” — come 
out  of  imperfection  to  make  perfection  come. 

The  supreme  law  of  kindness 
and  love,  which  is  justice,  should 
govern  man  in  all  his  relations 
and  intercourse  with  his  subor¬ 
dinates  and  servants  in  the 
floods  and  fields  of  existence. 

When  first  I  arrived  at  the 
great  knowledge  that  all  minerals  and  plants,  all  vege¬ 
tables  and  vines,  all  flowers  and  fruits, — in  a  word,  that 
all  the  millions  upon  millions  of  moving  and  feeling 
creatures  which  abound  in  the  animal  world,  had 
existed  and  were  existing  for  the  benign  general  pur¬ 
pose  of  unfolding  and  sustaining  man’s  organization — 
when  I  arrived  at  this  knowledge,  then  my  heart,  all 
at  once  enlarged  and  sanctified  by  its  new  universal 


THE  NIGHT-HAWK  WORKS 
WHILE  YOU  SLEEP. 


SOLITUDE  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE. 


51 


ONE  OP  NATURE’S  HIGH 
PRIESTS. 


sympathy  with  every  living 
thing,  grew  inexpressibly  tender 
and  bountiful  to  all  the  breath¬ 
ing  world.  The  sublime  solitudes 
and  sweet  companionships  of 
alfection  encompassed  and  un¬ 
folded  my  spirit.  Not  again 
could  I  willingly  divide  flesh 
from  its  life  by  instruments  of 
torture.  With  appalling  thoughts 
I  recalled  the  acts  of  my 
gentlemen  acquaintances — 
the  effects  of  murderous 
rifles  even  in  the  white 
hands  of  adventurous  young 
women — away  in  the  soli¬ 
tudes  of  the  wilderness, 
hunting  the  fish,  the  wild 
birds,  and  chasing  and  cap-  beautiful  in  tue  wood  and 
taring  the  pleading,  suppli¬ 
cating  deer !  How  little  can 
such  hunters  really  know,  and 
how  much  less  must  they  real¬ 
ly  allow  themselves  to  feel, 
concerning  the  exquisite  bar 
mony  and  sympathy  mani 
fested  by  the  Eternal  Heart  in 


IENGING  THE  80NG  OF  TRO- 
GUESS. 


52 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


tlie  living  things  of  nature !  Universal  culture  will 
bring  an  era  of  universal  tenderness. 

Nothing  can  be  more 
shallow  and  garrulous  than 


wild  fowls  and  the  “game 
of  life  ”  in  the  great  re¬ 
treats  of  meadow  and  wil¬ 
derness.  The  babbling 
tongue  of  purling  streams 


SOLITARY  AMONG  THE  REEDS  AND 
EDDIES. 


is  not  friendlier  nor  more  childish¬ 
ly  chatty  in  conversation.  Gre¬ 
garious  and  familiar,  in  their  asso¬ 
ciations,  are  the  original  tenants  of 
fields  and  floods  and  forests;  yet, 
compared  with  what  there  is  in 
man’s  kingdom,  to  know  and  to  en¬ 
joy,  how  inexpressibly  lonely  and 
poor  are  the  servants  in  the  im¬ 
mense  cellars  and  dungeon-kitchens 
of  the  great  earth  ! 


social  sounds  or  wild  The  great  lound  world  which 
lias  a  great  heart,  pure  and  modest, 
and  charged  with  finely-shaded  secrets,  and  with  pri¬ 
vacies  of  great  richness,  never  yet  exposed  to  un¬ 
worthy  eyes — this  great  world  is  man’s  schoolhouse, 
his  home  for  a  time,  and  his  vast  machine-shop.  His 
mental  sagacity  and  manual  skill  are  com  ensurate 


SOLITUDE  OF  ANIMAL  LIFE. 


53 


USEFUL,  BUT  NOT  A  CEL¬ 
EBRATED  SINGER 


with  the  good  use  he  makes  of 
his  surrounding  opportunities.  A 
whole  world  of  truth  lies  concealed 
within  the  simple  exterior  of  a 
garden-plant.  Not  only  love  and 
sympathy,  not  only  wisdom  in  its 
manifold  manifestations,  not  only 
prophetic  animal  life  and  processes 
emblematic  of  immortal  human 
progress ;  but,  yet  more,  in  the 
simple  plant — in  the  corn,  wheat, 
fruit-trees,  vines,  and  floral 
growths  of  garden  and  field — man 
may,  if  his  eyes  are  pure  and 
quite  clear,  see  the  very  essence 
of  that  Divine  Spirit  by  which  the 
universe  is  unfolded  and  sustained. 

If  you  accept  animals  as  ap¬ 
proximate  parts  of  yourself,  both 
physically  and  mentally,  although 

not  spiritually,  then  you  are 
prepared  and  enkindled  enough 
to  accept  evidences  that  ani¬ 
mals  have  parts  of  human  in¬ 
telligence  and  sagacity.  With 
this  idea  in  mind  let  us  proceed 

NATURE  PERPETUATES  HER-  ^  ^  chapter. 


IV. 

Indications  of  Reason  in  Animals. 

WISDOM,  ot  rather  the  faculties  by  which  Wis¬ 
dom  is  unfolded,  can  be  made  larger  and  wiser 
by  interrogating-  “the  foolish  tilings  of  this  world.” 
But  the  cheerful  confidence  and  profound  self-conceit 
of  the  unwise,  who  know  not  their  ignorance,  is  a  bar 
to  further  investigation  and  improvement.  Having 
intuitive  graspings  of  a  few  principles,  and  realizing 
the  frequent  deficiency  of  book-learned  persons  in 
these  very  intuitions,  the  unwise  are  sorely  tempted 
to  become  elated,  pedantic,  and  self-sufficient. 

“  Tie  re  is,”  said  Ruskin,  “  in  every  animal’s  eye  a 


REASON  IN  ANIMALS. 


55 


dim  foregleam  of  humanity,  a  flash  of  strange  light, 
through  which  their  life  looks  out  and  up  to  our  great 
mystery  of  command  over  them,  and  claims  the  fel¬ 
lowship  of  the  creature  if  not  of  the  soul.” 

Man,  in  his  high  and  true  estate,  is  the  animal’s 
superior  both  by  organization  and  acquirement.  But 
man  inverted,  or  with  his  faculties  yet  slumbering  in 
their  easy  cerebral  beds,  is  frequently  inferior  to  the 
animals  about  him ;  of  which  unwelcome  proposition 
let  me  fortify  you  with  evidence.  A  noble  act  per¬ 
formed  by  a  dog  is 
thus  narrated : 

“  My  oldest  son 
was  crossing  the  fields 
in  the  country,  some 
distance  from  any 
dwelling,  when  he  was 
pursued  by  a  large 
and  fierce  dog  belong 
ing  to  the  gentleman 
whose  land  he  was 
crossing.  The  lad  was 
alarmed,  and  ran  for 
his  life.  He  struck 
into  a  piece  of  woods, 
and  the  dog  gained 

EVERY  DOG  IS  ENTITLED  TO  RIS  DAY.  UpOn  llllU,  wlldl  lie 


56 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


looked  around  to  see  liow  near  the  creature  was,  and 
tumbling  over  a  stone,  he  pitched  off  a  precipice  and 
broke  his  leg.  Unable  to  move,  and  at  the  mercy  of 
the  beast,  the  poor  fellow  saw  the  dog  coming  down 
upon  him,  and  expected  to  be  seized  and  torn  ;  when, 
to  his  surprise,  the  dog  came  near  and  perceiving  the 
boy  was  hurt,  he  instantly  wheeled  about  and  went  off 
for  aid  which  he  could  not  render  himself.  There  was 
no  one  within  reach  of  the  child’s  voice,  and  he  must 
have  perished  there,  or  dragged  his  broken  limb  along, 
and  destroyed  it  so  as  to  render  amputation  necessary, 
if  the  dog  did  not  bring  him  help.  He  held  up  his 
leg,  and  it  hnng  at  a  right  angle,  showing  him  plainly 
the  nature  of  his  misfortune,  and  the  necessity  of  lying 
still.  The  dog  went  off  to  the  nearest  house  and 
barked  for  help.  Unable  to  arrest  attention,  he  made 
another  visit  of  sympathy  to  the  boy,  and  then  ran  to 
the  house,  there  making  such  demonstrations  of  anxiety, 
that  the  family  followed  him  to  the  place  where  the 
child  lay.  Now  observe  that  this  dog  was  pursuing 
this  boy,  as  an  enemy ;  but  the  moment  he  saw  his 
enemy  prostrate  and  in  distress,  his  rage  was  turned 
to  pity,  and  he  flew  to  his  relief.  Here  was  true  feel¬ 
ing,  and  the  course  he  pursued  showed  good  judgment. 
He  was  a  dog  of  heart  and  head.  Very  few  men,  not 
all  Christians,  help  their  enemies  when  they  fall. 
This  dog  was  better  than  many  men  who  claim  to  be 


REASON  IN  ANIMALS. 


57 


good  men.  I  do  not  say  that  he  reasoned  in  this  mat¬ 
ter  ;  but  there  is  something  in  his  conduct  on  this 
occasion  that  looks  so  much  like  the  right  kind  of  feel¬ 
ing  and  action,  that  I  think  it  deserves  to  be  recorded 
to  his  credit.  As  few  dogs  will  read  the  record,  I 
commend  the  example  to  all  mankind  for  their  imita¬ 
tion.” 


AFFECTION  AMONG  DOME9TIC  FOWLS. 

A  story  of  some  little  chickens  is  thus  pleasantly 

told  by  a  correspondent  of  the  American  Scotchman  : 

‘‘Not  long  ago  we  received  from  England  a  pair  of 

very  handsome  fowls  of  a  superior  breed,  of  which  we 

took  considerable  care.  The  spring  of  the  year  being 

very  wet  and  cold,  we  were  unfortunate  with  the  first 

brood,  saving  only  one  chicken.  Shortly  afterward, 

however,  our  hen  had  another  brood  of  fine  chickens, 

C2 


5S 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


to  which  she  was  remarkably  attentive ;  and  when 
they  were  only  a  few  days  old,  they  were  going  into  a 
clover-field  near  the  house ;  it  being  a  very  stormy 
day,  the  gate  blew  down,  and  unluckily  fell  on  our 
hen  and  her  little  ‘  chicks.’  We  hurried  to  release 
them,  and  were  soon  at  hand ;  but  we  found  to  our 
sorrow,  that  our  favorite  hen  and  several  of  the  little 
chickens  were  killed,  leaving  five  of  them  still  alive 
and  unhurt  under  her  wings.  Those  we  at  once  placed 
by  themselves  in  a  coop.  Our  little  girl,  then,  brought 
the  chicken  from  the  first  brood,  and  put  it  along  as 
company  for  the  night  with  the  little  ones.  Early  next 
morning,  we  went  to  see  how  the  little  family  were 
getting  along.  We  were  very  mucli  surprised  to  find 
the  little  chicken,  which  was  placed  with  them,  acting 
the  part  of  mother !  There  she  was,  with  a  very 
peculiar  chuck,  tending  and  feeding  them ;  not  a  bit 
would  she  eat  until  the  little  ones  were  satisfied  first ! 
The  affair  became  quite  interesting,  and  was  looked 
upon  as  a  great  curiosity.  Many  an  hour  was  spent 
by  our  neighbors,  as  well  as  ourselves,  in  watching 
them ;  it  was  so  amusing  to  see  the  chicken  trying  to 
get  the  little  ones  under  her  wings  ;  this,  however,  was 
a  little  more  than  she  could  manage  ;  but  they  seemed 
perfectly  happy  with  their  little  mother,  and  for  nearly 
two  months  got  along  remarkably  well.  Unfortunate¬ 
ly,  what  has  been  to  us  such  a  source  of  pleasuro 


REASON  IN  ANIMALS. 


59 


proved  too  much  for  the  tender  little  frame  of  our 
chicken — she  pined  away,  notwithstanding  all  the  care 
and  attention  we  could  bestow  upon  her,  and  our  little 
favorite  died ;  and  when  we  buried  her,  it  really 
seemed  as  if  we  had  lost  some  kind  friend.  We  could 
scarcely  eat,  and,  I  assure  you,  that  morning  there 
was  not  a  dry  eye  in  our  house.” 


Domesticated  an¬ 
imals,  especially  the 
dog  and  the  horse, 
may  be  taught  to 
perform  “  tricks  ”  and 
to  manifest  intelli¬ 
gence.  They,  how¬ 
ever,  never  seem  to 
intellectually  prize 
what  they  thus  ac- 

HOG3  AND  HENS  ARE  MILLS  FOR  REFINING  nill’l’P  rim*  rln 
EXCREMENT1TIOUS  ATOMS.  HU1AtJ5  UU1  UO 

impart  such  knowl¬ 
edge  to  their  progeny,  as  man  does ;  because  an¬ 
imals,  unlike  mankind,  are  endowed 
and  governed  automatically  by  the 
laws  of  immutable  instinct.  This  dif¬ 
ference  is  a  gate  of  iron. 

But  the  incessant  operation  of  pro¬ 
gressive  laws,  in  the  realms  of  matter 
and  in  mind,  in  the  course  of  ages  re- 


THE  SOURCE  OF  OUB 
WOOLEN  GARMENTS. 


no  JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 

suits  in  the  extinguishment  of  inferior  orders  and  in  the 
gradual  yet  certain  establishment  of  perfect  types  of 
every  kind  of  life  and  sensation. 

Some  associate  with  hens  and 
chickens  in  the  very  common,  yet  im¬ 
portant  mission  of  eating  and  refining 
up  the  excrement! tious  and  other  very 
gross  conditions  of  matter.  When 
mankind  come  to  fully  understand  the  soueoe  op  milk, 
that  swine  and  various  breeds  of  fowls 
are  but  automatic  gastronomical  machines  for  rooting 
up  and  eating,  and  thus  forwarding  for  the  similar  use 
of  higher  organisms,  a  great  mass  of  otherwise  poison¬ 
ous  and  disgusting  material,  most  people  will  forthwith 
cease  devouring  their  flesh  as  a  suitable  article  of  food. 

But,  returning  to  the  evidence  that  animals  are  but 
fragments  and  prophecies  of  men,  we  quote  the  follow¬ 
ing  from  Watson’s  work  on  “The  Reasoning  Power 
in  Animals,”  who  says  that  horses  will  not  only  be¬ 
moan  lost  companions,  but  sympathize  with,  and 
endeavor  to  relieve,  their  living  associates. 

“  A  gentleman  was  one  evening  in  the  full  enjoy¬ 
ment  of  a  pleasant  dinner-party,  in  his  own  house. 
It  so  happened  that  a  glass-door  opened  from  the 
dining-room  upon  the  lawn.  Pushing  open  this  door, 
a  most  extraordinary  and  unbidden  visitor  entered  the 
room.  Starting  up,  the  amazed  company  beheld  a 


REASON  IN  ANIMALS. 


61 


quadruped  which  had  never  entered  that  room  before. 
The  gentleman  advanced,  and  recognized  one  of  his 
favorite  mares,  which,  undaunted  by  the  blazing  light 
and  the  crowding  round  her  of  the  astonished  guests, 
Bhowed  by  voice  and  manner  some  strange  emotion. 
Her  master  went  up  to  the  animal,  which  trotted  off, 
uttering  a  peculiar  cry.  It  was  determined  to  ascer¬ 
tain  the  cause  of  the  mare’s  strange  conduct.  She  was 
followed  to  a  field,  and  the  motive  for  her  unwonted 
behavior  was  quickly  discovered.  Her  foal  had  got 
entangled  in  bog  and  briars,  and  the  alarmed  mother 
had  adopted  this  effective  mode  of  obtaining  aid.” 

A  similar  incident  has  been  told  of  a  sheep  ;  in 
both  cases  the  appeal  for  human  help  had  a  rational 
motive,  and  was  prosecuted  in  a  rational  manner. 
Some  of  the  ingenious  feats  of  the  more  clever  horses 
have  a  close  resemblance  to  human  actions.  Take  the 
following  case,  narrated  in  Mr.  Smiles’s  “  Life  of 
Rennie,  the  Engineer.”  A  horse,  called  Jack,  was  one 
among  many  employed  at  the  erection  of  Waterloo 
bridge.  The  horse  was  accustomed  to  draw  the  stone 
trucks  along  a  tramway  to  the  places  where  the  stone 
was  required.  A  beer-shop  was,  of  course,  opened 
near  the  works,  for  the  special  use  of  the  ‘  navvies,’ 
and  other  workmen.  The  driver  of  Jack’s  truck  was 
an  honest  sort  of  fellow,  named  Tom,  who  had  one 
special  weakness — an  inability  to  pass  the  beer-shop 


62 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


without  taking  “  a  little.”  Jack  was  so  accustomed  to 
this  that,  though  a  restive  animal,  he  waited  content¬ 
edly  till  Tom  came  out  of  his  own  accord,  or  till  the 
appearance  of  an  overlooker  startled  the  man  into 
activity.  On  one  occasion,  however,  when  the  super¬ 
intendents  were  absent,  Tom  took  so  long  a  spell  at  the 
ale  that  Jack  became  restive,  and  the  trace-fastenings 
being  long  enough,  the  animal  put  his  head  inside  the 
ale-house  door,  and  seizing  the  astonished  Tom  by  the 
collar  with  his  teeth,  dragged  the  lazy  man  out  to  the 

truck.  Every  man 
there  understood 
the  action  of  the 
horse,  and  great 
became  the  fame 
of  Jack  among  the 
host  of  workers.” 

In  the  curtained 
brain  and  muffled 
tongue  of  the  an¬ 
imal  reside  the  fun¬ 
damentals  of  hu¬ 
man  intelligence 
and  speech.  No 
sea  -  weed  floating 
on  the  billow,  no 

ANIMALS  DISLIKE  WHO  TREAT  THEM  ^ 


REASON  IN  ANIMALS. 


63 


bing  through  the  heart  of  fish  or  bird,  but  works  for 
and  prophesies  of  man.  Lovingly  the  song  of  trees, 
with  tongues  overflowing  with  an  infinite  language, 
tell  man’s  listening  spirit  that  not  a  bee,  not  a  fly,  not 
a  gnat  breathes  and  burns  in  vain. 

What  would  I  not  give  in  exchange  for  the  power 
to  put  this  whole  gospel  into  the  warm  bosoms  of  my 
fellow-men !  Gusts  of  passion,  hail-storms  in  social 
life,  sword  of  warrior,  thunders  of  battle,  groans  of 
dying  men,  moanings  of  animals  in  death  agony — no 
more  of  any  of  this  horrible  injustice  would  be  pos¬ 
sible  ! — if  I  could  but  breathe  into  the  throbbing 
hearts  of  my  peers  and  fellow-pilgrims  the  everlasting 
truth  concerning  the  animals  who  live  before,  beneath, 
around,  and  within  us  —  our  small -brained,  almost 
imbecile,  helpless,  solitary,  dependent,  ever-faithful 
relatives,  and  friends  in  disguise — most  wonderful 
forces  and  organizations,  existing  and  laboring  inces¬ 
santly  for  the  progression  of  all  matter,  and  for  the 
ultimate  perfection  of  the  whole  earth. 


V. 

Formation  of  Nationoids  in  America. 

THE  marvellous  loveliness  and  grandeur  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  continent,  crowned  with  open  and  free  insti¬ 
tutions,  attract,  among  hosts  of  different  natures,  the 
most  enterprising  representatives  of  all  the  races  of 
the  globe.  Its  magnificent  mountains,  its  valleys  of. 
fertility  and  beauty,  its  wonderfully  beautiful  rivers, 
its  great  chain  of  lakes,  and  vast  stretches  of  coast 
washed  by  two  oceans,  its  overwhelming  expansions  of 
prairie-lands,  its  incalculable  mineral  wealth  beneath 
the  soil,  its  countless  varieties  of  vegetation,  its  elec¬ 
trical  climates  and  unrivalled  skies,  its  total  and  perfect 
adaptation  to  the  highest  and  broadest  and  deepest 


NATIONOIDS  IN  AMERICA. 


65 


needs  of  humanity,  constitute  a  continent  destined  to 
act  magnetically  upon  the  entire  populations  of  the 
earth.  It  is  a  hemisphere  of  beauty  and  magnificence,  of 
dazzling  opulence  and  boundless  fertilization,  to  which 
no  description  can  do  justice.  It  is  open  and  free  to 
the  world,  to  which  it  sends  heartiest  invitation  ;  and 
it  is,  therefore,  a  land  into  whicli  the  races  of  the 
world  are  rushing  with  the  swiftness  and  power  of 
mighty  rivers. 

The  grand  geographical  belt  of  greatest  planetary 
development — not  many  hundreds  of  miles  wide — runs 
straight  across  the  American  continent,  and  proceeds 
westward  until  it  engirdles  and  clasps  itself  around 
the  globe.  In  the  tides  of  the  atmosphere,  which 
covers  and  corresponds  to  this  geologic  boundary  of 
maximum  fertility,  there  floats  and  soars  the  celestial 
life  of  the  earth.  This  circulatory  life  contains  the 
germs  and  causes  of  the  almost  infinite  possibilities  of 
the  globe  and  its  inhabitants.  It  is  impossible  that 
any  thing  human  should  live  in  America  and  not  be 
more  or  less  a  recipient  of  these  atmospheric  germs  arid 
causes.  They  float  and  infuse  themselves  everywhere, 
and  enter  the  lungs  and  the  life,  and  indistinctly  mix 
into  the  character  of  every  person.  It  is  best  to  reside 
near  the  middle  of  this  geologic  and  atmospheric  belt, 
in  order  to  achieve  highest  intellectual  and  industrial 
results ;  and  to  this  end,  also,  it  is  better  to  exist 
5 


66 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


and  strive  on  the  southern  rather  than  upon  the  north¬ 
ern  side  of  it ;  on  the  principle  of  magnetic  emanation, 
which  produces  a  greater  proportion  of  health  and 
prosperity  upon  the  sides  of  mountains  and  in  valleys 
which  openly  and  frankly  face  the  wonderful  sun  in 
the  heavens. 

All  the  way  round  the  globe  this  magnetic  and 
electrical  girdle — an  ethereal  belt  which  mathemat¬ 
ically  marks  and  defines  the  boundaries  between  the 
earth’s  two  wide  extremes — shows  where  the  greatest 
human  developments  have  been,  and  are  at  all  times 
possible.  Ali  the  civilizations,  all  the  arts  and  sciences, 
all  the  best  religions,  have  been  unfolded  within  two 
parallel  lines  less  than  two  thousand  miles  apart. 
Within  these  fraternal  lines  we  find  the  brightest 
human  intellects,  the  finest  inspirations  of  music,  art, 
and  spirituality,  and  the  grandest  conquests  of  inven¬ 
tion  and  labor ;  all  set  in  a  framework  of  great  natural 
magnificence  and  loveliness  of  scenery,  at  once  a  feast 
to  the  eye  and  a  gladness  to  the  heart,  and  constituting 
a  magnet  of  wonderful  attractiveness  to  all  the  world 
besides.  The  history  of  mankind’s  pathway  through 
the  fields  of  its  greatest  achievements,  and  a  perfect 
picture  of  mankind’s  situation  and  highest  develop¬ 
ments  at  this  moment,  would  in  their  general  features 
be  one  and  the  same — a  repetition  of  the  old  pioneering, 
a  recitation  of  the  old  wars  and  struggles,  a  rehearsal 


NATIONOIDS  IN  AMERICA. 


67 


of  the  old  dramas  and  tragedies,  a  picturing  of  the  old 
kingdoms  and  subjective  industries — the  present  differ¬ 
ing  from  the  past  only  in  the  minor  details  of  new 
actors,  new  dresses,  new  scenery,  and  new  accessories, 
developing  a  variety  of  effects  before  an  audience  of 
new  spectators  who,  for  the  time  being,  fancy  they 
are  really  beholding  “  something  entirely  new.” 


HUMAN  ROOTS  AT  THE  BOTTOM  OF  SOCIETY. 


The  positive  pole  of  the  great  magnetic  belt  of 
highest  fertility,  after  a  lapse  of  thousands  of  years, 
has  so  revolved  and  augmented  its  prolificating  quali¬ 
ties  as  to  span  the  American  continent.  It  extends 
its  great  magnetic  arms  lovingly  around  a  portion  of 
Europe,  and  clasps  its  hands  tenderly  over  the  nations 
of  the  slumberous  East.  But  the  parallel  iines  never 
vary  as  to  their  distance  from  each  other,  while  yet 
they  are  never  alike  in  their  relative  positive  and 
negative  polarities,  nor  in  the  marvellous  effect  they 


6S 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


exert  in  different  parts  of  the  world  upon  the  feelings, 
propensities,  thoughts,  industries,  and  physical  and 
spiritual  developments  of  the  races  and  individuals 
within  their  reach. 


FLOWERS  AT  THE  TOP  OF  SOCIETY  WHO  CLAIM  SUPERIORITY  TO  THE  ROOTS  IN 
THE  SOCIAL  SOIL. 

Potential  causes,  which  need  not  here  be  consid¬ 
ered,  cooperate  with  the  dynamics  of  this  nation¬ 
generating  belt.  In  the  track  of  these  causes  travel 
the  progressive  pioneers,  who,  in  every  stage  of  the 
world’s  growth,  appear  aggressively  in  advance  of 
peaceful  settlements  in  new  countries.  These  intrepid 
adventurers  encounter  manifold  dangers  from  wild 
animals,  from  savages,  and  from  an  unpropitious 
climate.  They  reach  down  to  the  deepest,  roots  of 
society — find  native  humanoids  in  every  stage  of  de¬ 
velopment — and  begin,  through  evil  and  through  good, 
to  build  the  foundations  of  a  new  nation.  Thus  the 


NATIONOIDS  IN  AMERICA. 


tP> 

Mayflower  carried  the  seed-germs  of  new  common¬ 
wealths,  and  her  crew  began  to  lav  the  foundations 
of  a  new  world  upon  the  immovable  basis  of  “  Ply¬ 
mouth  Rock.”  They  had  no  knowledge  of  the  objects 


HOMESTEADS  OP  AMERICAN  PIONEERS. 


of  beauty  or  scenes  of  grandeur  which  surrounded  them 
upon  the  immensely  vast  continent.  They  did  not 
know  that  they  were  the  advancing  column  of  an 
innumerable  army  drafted  out  of  all  nations  on  the 
globe.  They  did  not  venture  even  to  dream  that  they 
were  to  establish  a  new  country  and  a  new  govern¬ 
ment  that  would  in  time  occupy  the  highest  place  in 
the  sight  and  in  the  faith  of  all  races  of  men. 

Far  from  it.  On  the  contrary,  the  “  Pilgrim 
Fathers,”  with  their  superior  characteristics  for  lay- 


7U  JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 

ing  the  foundation  of  a  great  national  independence, 
were  simply  in  quest  of  a  place  on  earth  where  a  Free 
Bible  and  a  Free  Conscience  could  be  forever  possessed 
and  enjoyed.  This,  with  comfortable  homes  and  pro¬ 
ductive  farms,  and  nothing  more  !  They  had  no  en- 


A  DREAM  TOLD  BY  THE  PURITAN  MOTHERS  TO  THE  PURITAN  FATHERS. 

“  Too  Good  to  be  True  !  ” 

thusiasm  ;  no  dreams  of  progression.  Their  dogmatic 
theology  and  inflexible  morals,  their  opinionated 
bigotries  and  austerities,  their  contempt  for  that  which 
is  merely  beautiful,  and  their  reverence  only  for  the 
downright  useful  and  hard  necessities  of  a  prosaic  life 
• — all  promising  symptoms  of  powerful  attributes  of 
character  and  conquest — made  them  practically  theo¬ 
cratic  in  their  views  and  administration  of  government, 
« — to  flee  from  the  wrath  of  which,  Roger  Williams, 


NATIONOIDS  IN  AMERICA. 


71 


the  first  great  American  Baptist,  was  compelled  to 
seek  protection  and  freedom  in  the  bosom  of  Prov¬ 
idence. 


PURITANISM  ATTEMPTS  THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  EVERY  OTHER  FORM  OP 
INDEPENDENCE. 


In  the  Puritan  stock  we  find  a  variety  of  the 
hardest  and  strongest  elements.  We  are  interested  in 
it  deeply  ;  because,  according  to  the  laws  of  hereditary 
transmission  of  qualities,  America  is  entitled  to  a  great 
career ;  and  because,  also,  there  are  already  signs  of 
the  formation  of  many  nationoids  upon  this  magnifi¬ 
cent  and  beautiful  continent. 

Inspiration  burned  and  throbbed  within  the  very 
heart  of  this  new  world.  Not  political,  not  social,  not 
industrial  ;  nay,  it  was  a  religious  cause  that  brought 
the  Mayflower  to  Plymouth  Rock.  The  laws  and 
conditions  of  Truth — inspiration  and  aspiration  of  the 
Eternal  Right — are  manifested,  first,  in  Evolution, 


72 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


and,  second,  in  Perception.  Between  the  first  and  the 
realization  of  the  second  whole  generations  of  men 
may  come  and  go.  Two  hundred  years  upon  the 
American  soil,  and  yet  it  is  doubtful  whether,  even  at 
this  day,  the  Perception  of  the  possibilities  embosomed 
in  the  Evolution  of  the  Puritan  movement  by  the  old 
world  has  been  reached  by  any  mind. 

In  the  stock  and  blood  at  the  bottom  of  this  history 
— which  is  the  opening  chapters  of  an  unparalleled 
career — we  find  elements  from  every  advanced  nation. 
German  Martin  Luther  contributed  his  spiritual 
supremacy ;  Bohemian  John  Huss  donated  the  exam¬ 
ple  of  his  sublime  resistance  to  religious  malpractices  ; 
Italian  Peter  Waldo  sent  his  example  of  loyalty  to 
primitive  religion  ;  Geneva  John  Calvin  forwarded  his 
invincibilities  of  doctrine  concerning  an  unchangeable 
God  ;  French  Huguenots  proclaimed  their  great  gospel 
of  religion  as  a  reformer  of  government;  Scotch  Dis¬ 
senters  contributed  their  high  principles  of  indepen¬ 
dence  of  God’s  church;  these  elements  we  find  in  the 
compound  out  of  which  is  being  evolved  the  great 
Nationoid,  which,  after  the  gestation  of  many  genera¬ 
tions,  will  certaiidy  develop  and  establish  a  new  type. 

At  present  we  can  behold,  as  a  result  of  the  over¬ 
flowing  immigration  and  conjugal  commingling  of 
English,  French,  German,  Scotch,  Irish,  Italians,  In¬ 
dians,  Africans,  Chinese,  &c.,  a  kind  of  national  com- 


NATIONOIDS  IN  AMERICA. 


73 


pound  which  may  with  propriety  be  called  American- 
ade.  It  is  a  mixture  not  yet  typical  of  any  thing  prom¬ 
ising — except  to  those  who  live  by  interior  sight — for 
it  is,  so  to  say,  the  “  protoplasm  ”  merely  of  a  future 
great  nation.  American  characters  are  now  nothing 
but  humanoids ;  the  dough  of  humanity  before  it  is 
fashioned  into  loaves  for  the  oven. 

It  is  profitable  to  remember  that  it  required  a  hot 
oven,  and  a  baking  period  of  more  than  twelve  long 
centuries,  to  fashion  and  establish  the  present  English 
type.  Roman,  Britain,  Saxon,  Norman, — all  had  to 
contribute  to  the  new  formation.  A  thousand  years 
are  consumed  in  the  fires  of  progress,  together  with 
millions  upon  millions  of  individual  human  homes  and 
interests  ;  and  very  soon  every  one  forgets  the  time  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  works  accomplished. 


AMERICAN  COMMERCE  BEFORE  THE  ERA  OF  RAILROADS. 


The  signs  of  a  war  of  races  in  America  have  given 
place  to  premonitory  symptoms  of  a  wondrous  blending 
of  different  physiological  elements  and  different  social, 

moral,  and  intellectual  traits  into  an  Amerieanade ; 

D 


74 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


which  is  filled  to  the  very  brim  with  executive  inspira¬ 
tions — a  compound  absolutely  dripping  over  with  in¬ 
fallible  prophecies  of  a  type,  which  shall  be  absolutely 
unlike  any  thing  known  either  in  the  old  world  or  new 
— a  type  of  character  which  shall  bloom  with  perennial 
virtues,  and  bear  the  fruits  of  righteousness,  progress, 
liberty,  and  spirituality. 

A  new  prob¬ 
lem  is  to  be  solved 
in  this  appointed 
land  of  beauty, 
fertility,  and 
scenic  magnifi¬ 
cence.  It  is  to  be 
the  birth-place  of 

MECHANICS  AND  AGRICULTURE  GO  HAND  IN  HAND. 

a  comprehensive- 

ly  new  blending  of  human  with  the  celestial  govern¬ 
ments.  The  epoch  of  theology  is  nearing  its  end. 
Carpenters  are  at  work  building  the  cradle  of  the  new 
uninstitutional  Religion.  Along  with  all  races  meet 
also  all  religions.  They  are  to  be  melted  and  run  to¬ 
gether  into  one  conglomerate  mass  of  historic  stuff  not 
good  for  any  thing  human.  A  prodigious  revolution, 
a  tremendous  change  in  the  feelings  and  thoughts  of 
mankind  in  America,  is  inevitable,  in  both  political 
and  ecclesiastical  institutions.  Creeds  cannot  with¬ 
stand  the  pulverizing  advancement  of  positive  science. 


NATION  OIDS  IN  AMERICA. 


75 


Bigotry  cannot  set  back  the  on-rolling  tides  of  universal 
Brotherhood. 


RAILROADS  AND  TELEGRAPHS  ARE  KNITTING  TOGETHER  THE  ENDS  OF 
THE  EARTH. 


The  nationoidal  condition  of  America,  or  rather 
the  humanoid al  stage  of  Anglo-Americans,  will  account 
for  much  of  popular  transgressions  of  the  laws  of 
peace,  justice,  and  wisdom.  The  bottom  laws  of 
society  are  atrociously  violated  by  both  church  and 
government.  Native  human  roots,  the  Indians,  for 
example,  are  plowed  up  and  thrown  into  the  sea. 
Christians,  so  called,  commit  this  unrivaled  iniquity, 
through  the  powerful  enginery  of  government,  which 
rests  upon  the  Army  and  Navy.  But  the  punishment 
for  such  transgressions  is  hastening  with  lightning 
speed.  Scientific  skepticism,  under  the  sanction  of 
highest  scholars  everywhere,  is  the  Nemesis  which 
will  crush  institutionalized  religion  into  nothingness. 


76 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


Protestantism  may  marshal  its  fixed  moralisms,  and 
may  concentrate  its  speculative  faith,  against  Cathol¬ 
icism  ;  and  one  tribe  of  prosaic  believers,  under  the 
flag  of  the  institutionalized  Luther,  may  war  with 
another  equally  prosaic  tribe  under  the  leadership  of 
some  other  Protestant  organization  —  Arminianism 
may  antagonize  with  Arianism,  and  ecclesiastical  may 
war  with  liberal  Christianity — but,  behold !  when  the 
great  army  of  Ideas  shall  appear  upon  the  field  ot 
battle,  under  the  generalship  of  Philosophy,  interpret¬ 
ing  the  positive  facts  of  natural  Science,  then  the  days 
of  dogmas  are  numbered,  then  the  institutions  of  the 
so-called  Christians,  together  with  the  labors  of  their 
administrators,  heirs,  and  assigns,  who  made  friends 
with  injustice  and  with  the  mammon  of  unrighteous¬ 
ness,  shall  go  down  in  lamentations  to  the  caves  of  the 
mountains,  and  they  shall  be  swallowed  up  by  the 
earthquake,  and  sink  forever  into  the  desert  valleys 
of  inextinguishable  volcanoes. 

But  still  another  struggle  is  coming !  While  the 
before-mentioned  Americanade  is  being  prepared  in 
the  matrix  of  the  present  humanoidal  condition,  there 
is  to  be  a  wondrous  War  of  Work — a  battle  between 
organized  Men  and  organized  Money — a  strange  strug¬ 
gle,  going  forward  at  the  same  moment,  on  both  sides 
of  the  two  great  oceans !  For  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  man,  Labor  is  to  become  King  !  The  powers 


NATIONOIDS  IN  AMERICA. 


77 


and  principalities  of  his  sovereign  majesty,  Money, 
will  become  subjects  of  the  heaven-ordained  Prince, 


PALACE  OP  A  GOOD  AND  POWERFUL  PRINCE. 


who  will  rule  triumphantly  throughout  both  con¬ 
tinents.  Black,  red,  yellow,  brown,  and  white  men, 
associated  with  black,  red,  yellow,  brown,  and  white 
women,  are  to  be  together  educated,  and  civilized,  and 
organized  into  Labor  Fraternities. 

Labor  is  just  beginning  to  be  intelligent.  Free 
schools  bring  forth  fruits  of  righteousness.  Money  is 
the  hereditary  King — ruling  for  thousands  of  years  by 
undoubted  “  divine  right,”  like  the  long  procession  of 
princes  during  the  epochs  of  superstition —but,  thank 
kind  Heaven  !  the  days  of  Money-monarchy  are  num¬ 
bered,  and  the  kingdom  of  Industry  is  about  to  come  on 
earth,  resting  upon  the  everlasting  foundation  of  Just¬ 
ice  and  Love,  which  are  the  will  of  the  Infinite. 


TS 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


The  new  Prince  of  righteousness  will  rule  for  a 
period  upon  the  bottom  law  of  all  revolutions — by  the 


DRILLING  SOLDIERS  FOR  THE  COMING  STRUGGLE. 


invincible  authority  of  organized  Might.  Monks  and 
ministers  shudder  before  this  approaching  crisis — 
bringing,  as  they  contemplate  the  prospect,  a  civiliza¬ 
tion  without  morals  and  a  religion  without  Christianity. 
The  soldiers  of  Labor  will  not  bow  to  institutionalized 
religion.  Neither  will  they  grope  in  the  dark  cellars 
of  mere  materialistic  metaphysics.  The  free  lands  of 
a  free  country — brimful!  of  free  schools,  free  bibles, 
free  consciences,  free  reason,  and  free  labor !  Great 
means  to  great  ends !  A  short,  straight  road  to  un¬ 
speakable  opulence,  progress,  and  happiness. 

There  are  fathers  and  mothers,  who  have  been  edu¬ 
cated  to  worship  at  the  feet  of  the  Money- Mon  arch, 


NATIONOIDS  IN  AMERICA. 


79 


shuddering  at  the  thought  of  bringing  up  their  chil¬ 
dren  to  Labor.  But  in  spite  of  church  organizations, 

and  in  opposition 
to  the  doomed 
doctrines  of  the 
monks  and  min¬ 
isters,  the  new 

civilization  must 
be  born.  Lecky, 
in  his  masterly 
“  History  of  Eu- 

FAVORITE  THRONE  OF  THE  COMING  KING.  T  .  ,, 

ropean  Morals, 

after  much  analytical  research,  says  that  “  the  civiliza¬ 
tion  of  the  last  three  centuries  has  risen  in  most 

respects  to  a  higher  level  than  any  that  had  preceded 
it.  Mechanical  invention,  habits  of  industry,  the  dis¬ 
coveries  of  physical  science,  the  improvements  of  gov¬ 
ernment,  the  traditions  of  Pagan  antiquity,  have  all  a 
distinguishing  place,  while  the  more  fully  its  history 
is  investigated  the  more  clearly  two  capital  truths  are 
disclosed.  The  first  is  that  the  influence  of  theology 
having  for  centuries  paralyzed  the  -whole  intellect  of 
Christian  Europe,  the  revival  which  forms  the  starting 
point  of  our  modern  civilization  was  mainly  due  to 
the  fact  that  two  spheres  of  intellect  still  remained  un¬ 
controlled  by  the  sceptre  of  Catholicism.  The  Pagan 
literature  of  antiquity,  and  the  Mohammedan  schools 


80 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


of  science  were  the  chief  agencies  in  resuscitating  the 
dormant  energies  of  Christendom.  The  second  fact 
is,  that  during  more  than  three  centuries  the  decadence 
of  theological  influence  has  been  one  of  the  most  in 
variable  signs  and  measures  of  our  progress.  In  medi¬ 
cine,  physical  science,  commercial  interests,  politics, 
and  even  in  ethics,  the  reformer  has  been  confronted 
with  theological  affirmations  which  barred  his  way, 
which  were  all  defended  as  of  vital  importance,  and 
were  all  in  turn  compelled  to  yield  before  the  secu¬ 
larizing  influence  of  civilization.” 

In  the  composition  of  the  nationoid,  which  is  being 
rapidly  developed  at  this  moment  in  America,  the 
Religion  of  Justice  will  appear  like  an  angel  of  uni¬ 
versal  salvation. 

After  the  War  of  Work  is  over,  after  Men  shall  be 
exalted  above  the  highest  place  ever  occupied  by 
Money,  after  many  ecclesiastical  authorities  shall  have 
their  offices  filled  by  everlasting  principles  of  Truth, 
then  will  there  be  seen  a  peaceful  light  shining  from  a 
realm  beyond  the  clouds  of  battle ;  then  will  come  to 
all  men  titles  to  a  Land  higher  than  the  highest  of 
earthly  aspirations ;  then  all  eyes  will  behold  softer 
skies  bending  tenderly  over  objects  of  celestial  beauty  ; 
then  will  our  astronomers  discover  galaxies  of  stars 
beaming  divinely  upon  scenes  of  loveliness  unknown 
to  earth ;  then  will  humanity  be  filled  with  a  grand 


NATIONOIDS  IN  AMERICA. 


81 


joy,  surpassing  all  speech,  defining  mankind’s  relations 
to  one  another  and  to  the  Infinite  government,  and 
bestowing  every  mind  with  the  sublime  knowledge 
that  a  higher,  truer,  more  worthy  existence  is  the  in¬ 
heritance  of  every  thing  human. 


6 


D2 


VI. 

The  Wisdom  of  Getting  Knowledge. 

THERE  are  in  every  community  two  opposing  types 
of  character  ;  which,  because  of  their  dissimilarity, 
may  be  classified  as  :  (1)  The  Originals,  and,  (2)  The 
Civilized. 

To  the  Originals  all  serious  books,  all  routine  re¬ 
straints,  all  aristocratic  respectabilities,  all  artificial 
methods  of  education,  are  unspeakably  repulsive  and 
unnatural.  Instead,  they  choose  to  give  unrestrained 
gratification  to  the  wild  energy  of  their  own  wild 
powers ;  to  lead  a  life  of  apparent  ignorance  and 
worthlessness  ;  or,  as  many  wisely  do,  choose  a  trade 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE.  83 

or  some  pursuit,  independently  of  the  schools,  and 
often  in  defiance  of  prevailing  standards  of  popularity. 

The  Civilizees,  on  the  contrary,  with  all  their 
aristocratic  connections  and  with  all  their  hereditary 
respectabilities,  naturally  and  pleasantly  take  to  popu¬ 
lar  methods.  They  become  noted  and  gifted  as  intel¬ 
lectual  book-worms  ;  they  discourse  agreeable  music  ; 
they  glibly  talk  in  unknown  tongues ;  and,  at  last, 
they  begin  to  fancy  themselves  a  superior  race  of 
mortals. 


“  With  finger-tip  he  condescends 
To  touch  the  fingers  of  his  friends, 

As  if  he  feared  their  palms  might  brand 
Some  moral  stigma  on  his  hand.” 


Originals,  who  are  sometimes  inspirational  “  gen¬ 
iuses,”  are  frequently  the  world’s  greatest  heroes,  its 
pioneers,  its  conquerors,  and  its  martyrs;  while  Civil¬ 
izees  are  as  frequently  the  world’s  greatest  impedi¬ 
ments,  its  cowards,  its  law-makers,  and  its  inquisitors. 
Originals  are  also  capable  of  being  the  solid  and 
solemn  bores  of  society  ;  while  Civilizees  are  invariably 
its  ornamental  air-holes  and  accredited  ministers. 
Originals  begin  at  the  roots  of  things  ;  they  eat  heart¬ 
ily  and  drink  themselves  drunk  with  first  meanings  ; 
while  the  Civilizee  concerns  himself  only  and  daintily 
with  results.  The  first  lives  in  immediate  eommunica- 


84 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


tion  with  the  forces  and  objects  of  nature ;  the  second 
takes  advantage  of  centuries  of  “  experience,”  and 
feeds  his  fastidious  wants  from  the  great  discoveries 
and  inventions  in  the  sciences — astronomy,  geology, 
medicine,  mechanics,  the  industrial  and  the  line  arts. 

By  slow  degrees  the  Original  learns  the  rudiments 
of  astronomy  ;  how  the  starry  bodies  change  with  the 
seasons ;  how  the  rain  and  the  shine  of  the  sun  affect 
the  germination  and  development  of  vegetation  ;  and 
the  heavenly  lights  become  points  on  the  brilliant  face 
of  his  chronometer  ;  while  the  Civilizee  saves  himself 
the  trouble  of  observation  by  carrying  a  watch  ;  by 
buying  an  almanac,  a  book  on  flowers  and  agriculture, 
and  reading  the  outlines  of  popular  astronomy.  And 
thus,  in  the  course  of  generations,  along  with  intellect¬ 
ual  culture  comes  a  weak  and  superficial  multitude, 
making  a  new  stock  of  Originals  absolutely  essential 
to  further  progress. 

These  inevitable  Originals,  in  their  countless  crudi¬ 
ties  and  by  their  barbarian  disregard  for  all  the  kid- 
glove-and  sugar-tong  proprieties,  appear  frequently 
like  mountebanks,  false  prophets,  and  quacks.  But 
this,  for  the  most  part,  is  an  appearance  only.  They 
reject  with  scorn  the  accumulations  of  book-knowledge, 
and  set  out  resolutely  to  dig  for  the  roots  of  things  ; 
they  have  a  powerful  gravitation  toward  the  founda¬ 
tions  and  essentials  of  knowledge. 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE. 


85 


Thus  human  nature,  ever  and  anon,  reasserts  itself. 
Through  a  thousand  palpable  blunders,  through  hun 
dreds  of  assumptions  and  egotistic  assertions,  the  Ori 
ginal  strikes  the  key-note  of  a  new  departure.  The 
first  medicine-men  were  shepherds,  who  observed  the 
habits  of  diseased  animals  among  herbs  and  roots  of 
the  fields  ;  the  first  physiologists  were  the  sacrificing 
priests,  who  observed  the  conditions  of  the  organs  of 
the  slaughtered  animals ;  the  first  real  astronomers 
were  the  outcast  soothsayers  and  reputed  charlatan 
astrologers  of  the  most  ancient  tribes  of  mankind. 
Said  James  Martineau :  “  The  first  party  of  painted 
savages,  who  raised  a  few  huts  upon  the  Thames,  did 
not  dream  of  the  London  they  were  creating,  or  know 
that  in  lighting  the  fire  on  their  hearth  they  were 
creating  one  of  the  great  foci  of  Time.”  Those  painted 
savages  were  Originals ;  they  laid  the  broad  founda¬ 
tions  of  the  subsequent  civilizations.  “  All  the  grand 
agencies  which  the  progress  of  mankind  evolves  are 
formed  in  the  same  unconscious  way.  They  are  the 
aggregate  result  of  countless  single  wills,  each  of 
which,  thinking  merely  of  its  own  end,  and  perhaps 
fully  gaining  it,  is  at  the  same  time  enlisted  by  Provi¬ 
dence  in  the  secret  service  of  the  world.” 

We  ought  by  this  time,  I  think,  to  demand  a  type 
of  character  superior  to  either  now  known — a  type 
founded  and  unfolded  upon  harmonial  principles  ;  in 


86 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


which  Originality  is  essential,  with  its  inspirable 
spiritual  susceptibilities,  and  with  its  great  automatic 
working  energies — a  type,  in  which  there  is  an  irre¬ 
sistible  flow  toward  a  loftier  Civilization,  through  the 
medium  of  inventions  and  the  arts— a  type  with  its 
great  powers  scientifically  and  gracefully  educated — 
in  shortest  phrase,  a  type,  in  which  both  the  best 
material  and  the  best  spiritual  meet  and  bloom  into 
personal  harmony,  manifested  in  society  through  a 
healthy  will  and  worthy  works,  endowed  with  abilities 
adequate  to  comprehend  and  help  forward  the  higher 
ends  and  purposes  of  the  present  grand  world. 


MAGICIANS  CHANGING  IRON  INTO  FORMS  OF  USE. 


A  better  type  of  character  will  come,  I  am  im¬ 
pressed,  with  a  truer,  more  natural  system  of  educa- 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE.  87 


tion.  But  in  the  present  volume  this  truer  educational 
system  must  not  be  particularly  explained. 

Brazen  boastfulness,  flippant  irreverence,  and  out¬ 
rageous  effrontery,  combined  with  great  natural  abili¬ 
ties  and  industry,  sometimes  characterize  strong,  inde¬ 
pendent,  original  minds;  whiie,  on  the  contrary,  the 
book-made  and  scholastically  disciplined  minds,  regu¬ 
lated  by  the  graceful  laws  and  brilliant  accomplish¬ 
ments  of  education,  habitually  exhibit  nobler  traits  and 
acblress  themselves  to  more  agreeable  qualities  in  their 
fellow-men. 

What,  let  me  ask,  is  the  essential  difference  between 
these  two  apparently  antagonistic  characters  ?  The 
difference,  I  think,  is  not  essential.  In  simple  truth, 
the  difference  is  best  illustrated  by  two  equally  good 
dwellings:  the  one  painted,  pictured,  carpeted,  and 
furnished ;  the  other  left  destitute  of  these  attractions 
and  advantages,  neglected  by  every  fine  art,  since  the 
day  it  was  pronounced  “finished”  by  the  architect; 
or  the  same  as  the  difference  between  two  fruit-trees 
— the  one  left  to  grow  and  bear  as  best  it  can  in  its 
native,  original  wildness ;  the  other  trimmed  and  fed 
and  cultivated  by  a  scientific  and  purely  conscientious 
pomologist. 

“  I  consider  a  human  soul,”  said  Addison,  “  without 
education,  like  marble  in  the  quarry  :  which  shows 
none  of  its  inherent  beauties,  until  the  skill  of  the  pol- 


88 


JETS  OE  NEW  MEANINGS. 


isher  fetches  out  the  colors,  makes  the  surface  shine, 
and  discovers  every  ornamental  cloud,  spot,  and  vein, 
that  runs  through  the  body  of  it.  Education,  after 
the  same  manner,  when  it  works  upon  a  noble  mind, 
draws  out  to  view  every  latent  virtue  and  perfection, 
which,  without  such  helps,  are  never  able  to  make 
their  appearance. 

“  If  my  reader  will  give  me  leave  to  change  the 
allusion  so  soon  upon  him,  I  shall  make  use  of  the 
same  instance  to  illustrate  the  force  of  education, 
which  Aristotle  has  brought  to  explain  his  doctrine  of 
substantial  forms,  when  he  tells  us  that  a  statue  lies 
hid  in  a  block  of  marble  ;  and  that  the  art  of  the  stat¬ 
uary  only  clears  away  the  superfluous  matter  and 
removes  the  rubbish.  The  figure  is  in  the  stone,  and 
the  sculptor  only  finds  it. 

“  What  sculpture  is  to  a  block  of  marble,  education 
is  to  a  human  soul.  The  philosopher,  the  saint,  or  the 
hero,  the  wise,  the  good,  or  the  great  man,  very  often 
lies  hid  and  concealed  in  a  plebeian,  which  a  proper 
education  might  have  disinterred  and  brought  to  light. 
I  am,  therefore,  much  delighted  with  reading  the 
accounts  of  savage  nations ;  and  with  contemplating 
those  virtues  which  are  wild  and  uncultivated  :  to  see 
courage  exerting  itself  in  fierceness,  resolution  in  ob¬ 
stinacy,  wisdom  in  cunning,  patience  in  sullenness 
and  despair.  .  .  .  To  return  to  our  statue  in  the  block 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE.  89 


of  marble,  we  see  it  sometimes  only  begun  to  be 
chipped,  sometimes  rough  hewn,  and  but  just  sketched 
into  a  human  figure ;  sometimes,  we  see  the  man  ap¬ 
pearing  distinctly  in  all  his  limbs  and  features  ;  some¬ 
times,  we  find  the  figure  wrought  up  to  great  elegancy  ; 
but  seldom  meet  with  any  to  which  the  band  of  a  Phi¬ 
dias  or  a  Praxiteles  could  not  give  several  nice  touches 
and  finishings.” 

Education,  therefore,  when  it  is  absolutely  true — - 
when  it  is  grounded  in  the  mental  susceptibilities, 
and  conducted  scientifically,  with  philosophical  fitness 
to  the  limitations  of  the  pupil’s  mental  constitution — 
when  the  range  and  variety  of  lessons  coincide  with  the 
range  and  variety  of  the  natural  powers,  and  not,  as 
in  popular  establishments,  be  multiplied  and  hastened 
in  proportion  to  the  capacity  and  retentiveness  of  the 
Memory  and  the  culpable  ambition  of  parents — then .  in 
very  truth,  education  is  a  blessing  beyond  all  speech, 
because  it  is  indispensable  to  individual  success  in  this 
life,  to  say  nothing  of  the  solid  happiness  and  progress 
to  the  spirit  which  true  education,  like  a  good  angel, 
brings  to  the  throne  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  powers. 

A  chapter  on  the  philosophy  of  education  is  not 
appropriate  in  these  pages  ;  inasmuch  as  this  book  is 
designed  as  a  vestibule,  with  entertaining  nooks  and 
ravines,  and  instructive,  talkative  streams  flowing 
through,  opening  upon  something  still  better  within 


90 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


the  temple  ;  and  yet,  just  here,  let  me  express  my  im¬ 
pression,  in  brief,  that  Education,  when  true  and 
genuine,  is  acquired  with  delight  and  joy,  on  the  law 
of  recurrence  or  repetition.  The  faculties  of  thought, 
like  the  hands  and  feet,  become  truly  educated  by 
means  of  frequently  circling  repetitions  of  ideas,  apti¬ 
tudes,  actions,  and  conditions.  Acquisition,  in  other 
terms,  is  an  effect  of  repetition,  upon  the  principle  that 
“  habit  becomes  second  nature.” 

The  Rights  of  Childhood  must  be  recognized  and 
respected  by  parents,  guardians,  and  teachers  ;  quite 
as  much,  in  justice,  as  the  Duties  of  Childhood,  which, 
also,  must  be  early  inculcated  and  steadily  enforced. 

A  few  propositions  may  induce  thoughtful  and 
earnest  investigation,  and  may  result  in  wise  action, 
not  less,  concerning,  1.  The  horning ;  2.  The  treat¬ 
ment  ;  and,  3.  The  training  of  children.  All  parents, 
the  rich  and  the  poor  alike,  should,  because  they  can, 
recognize  and  fulfil  the  following,  as  their  Children’s 
Bill  of  Rights : 

First.  A  healthy  physical  and  mental  organiza¬ 
tion  from  birth  ;  thus,  by  the  law  of  hereditary  trans¬ 
mission,  anticipating  the  fallacious  “  regeneration  ” 
inculcated  by  religious  schemes. 

Second.  A  rational  physical  and  mental  educa¬ 
tion ,  both  at  school  and  in  the  home ;  thus,  by  the  law 
of  progressive  development,  giving  the  child  a  fortune 


WISDOM  OP  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE. 


91 


infinitely  richer  and  more  substantial  than  UDtold 
millions  of  gold  and  silver. 


A  PATHER  ENCOURAGING  HIS  SON  TO  ATTEND  SCHOOL. 


One  bottom-truth  must  be  learned  by  parents  and 
acted  upon,  to  wit :  Perfect  and  most  expensive 
schools,  and  wisest  and  most  honored  teachers,  cannot 
undo  the  evils  imparted  to  children  in  homes  where 
the  corrective  influences  of  justice  and  kindness  are 
disregarded,  and  where  the  fundamental  laws  of  phys¬ 
ical  health  and  mental  growth  are  violated  day  by 
day. 

The  School  constitution  is  essentially  different  from 
the  constitution  of  the  Home.  Therefore,  the  relation 
of  teacher  to  pupil  can  never  be  identical  with  the 
relation  subsisting  between  parent  and  child.  And 
yet  it  is  necessary  for  the  young  that  the  school  gov¬ 
ernment  and  the  home  government  should  correspond 


92 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


in  every  essential.  No  tyranny  is  more  absolute  than 
parental  government  without  parental  love ;  which 
fact  is  fully  manifested  in  every  seminary  or  college 
where  the  corps  of  teachers  and  professors  assume  the 
relations  and  responsibilities  of  parents  to  the  pupils 
put  under  their  charge.  Such  a  government  is  founded 
upon  rules,  laws,  and  a  programme  of  requirements 
enforced  by  marks  of  dishonor,  penalties,  and  suspen¬ 
sions  ;  to  escape  which,  the  pupils,  simply  because 
they  are  not  regulated  by  an  appeal  to  their  individual 
sense  cf  honor  and  responsibility,  invent  every  imagin¬ 
able  phase  of  falsehood,  duplicity,  and  insubordination. 
In  the  absence  of  parental  love,  there  can  be  no  re¬ 
demptive  justice  in  parental  government.  An  appeal 
both  to  parents  and  to  the  civil  laws  of  the  land,  by 
school  teachers  and  college  professors,  in  cases  of 
insubordination  and  flagrant  disobedience,  would  work 
far  better  than  the  system  of  private  whippings,  black¬ 
marking,  suspensions,  expulsions,  &c.,  at  present  pre¬ 
vailing  in  various  institutions. 

Parents  and  grandparents  usually  delight  in  the 
possession  of  “  smart  children.”  Conscientious  teach¬ 
ers,  on  the  other  hand,  wdsely  dread  this  shallow  and 
supremely  vicious  ambition.  If  a  child-boy  can  behave 
in  company  just  “like  a  little  man,”  or  if  an  infantile 
girl  can  strut  and  simper  before  folks  “just  like  a  little 
lady,”  then  the  boastful  parents,  swollen  with  the 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE.  93 

vapors  of  extreme  silliness,  smile  upon  them  with  ex¬ 
ceeding  satisfaction. 

Therefore,  in  these  rushing  days,  spontaneous  child¬ 
hood  has  quite  disappeared  behind  the  innumerable 
smart  things,  witty  sayings,  and  dignified  ways  of 
“young  folks,”  known  in  literature  as  our  little  men 
and  women. 

Inasmuch  as  a  perfect  copying  or  imitation  of 
“  grown  people  ”  is  the  popular  demand  by  parents 
upon  professional  and  conscientious  teachers,  why  may 
we  not  at  once  introduce,  as  head-schoolmaster,  an 
original  embodiment  of  the  science  ;  so  that  our  smart 
children  may  be  exceedingly  amused,  while  learning 
in  early  years  to  “  put  away  childish  things,”  and 
while  studiously  acquiring  the  interesting  personal 
habits  and  manners  of  superannuated  humanity  ? 

A  story  illustrating  this  imitative  propensity,  is 
told  of  three  little  girls  who  were  playing  among  the 
poppies  and  sage-brush  of  the  back  yard.  Two  of 
them  were  making  believe  keep  house,  a  little  way 
apart,  as  near  neighbors  might.  At  last  one  of  them 
was  overheard  saying  to  the  youngest  of  the  lot, 
“  There,  now,  Nelly,  you  go  over  to  Sarah’s  house 
and  stop  there  a  little  while  and  talk  as  fast  as  ever 
you  can,  and  then  you  come  back  and  tell  me  what 
she  says  about  me,  and  then  I’ll  talk  about  her ;  and 
then  you  go  and  tell  her  all  I  say,  and  then  we’ll  get 


04 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


as  mad  as  hornets,  and  won’t  speak  when  we  meet, 
j  ust  as  our  mothers  do,  you  know  ;  and  that’ll  be  such 
fun — won’t  it  ?  ” 


A  PROFESSOR  OF  THE  ART  OF  IMITATION. 


Boys  imitate  men  as  naturally  as  one  robin  sings 
like  another.  The  dissipation  and  excesses  of  con¬ 
vivial  fathers — their  gambling-amusements,  their  rum¬ 
drinking,  their  tobacco-chewing,  their  smoking  aud 
snuffing,  their  silly  vulgarity  and  filthy  profanities — 
all  these  are  copied  by  most  all  boys  who  see  and  hear 
such  men  and  fathers.  Youth  convey  these  danger¬ 
ous  mental  habits  into  schools  and  colleges.  And 
sometimes,  notwithstanding  the  frequent  interposition 
of  heavenly  guardians  to  save  them,  the  magnanimous 
young  heart  and  the  fine  intellectual  brain,  once  beauti¬ 
ful  with  the  grand  hopes  and  sweet  promises  of  child¬ 
hood,  are  wrecked  and  broken  upon  the  dismal  shores 
of  error  and  misdirection. 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE  95 

u  A  startling  example  of  the  results  of  college  dissi¬ 
pation  is  given  in  the  Life  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Harris 
Barham,  the  witty  author  of  the  famous  ‘  Ingoldsby 
Legends.’  A  fellow-student  of  Barham’s  at  Brasenose 
College,  Oxford,  had  plunged  into  dissipation  and  in¬ 
volved  himself  in  heavy  debts.  Unfortunately  there 
are  great  facilities  for  doing  so  at  that  university  and 
in  a  lesser  degree  at  Cambridge,  owing  to  the  long 
credit  offered  by  the  tradesmen.  His  ‘  duns  ’  were 
upon  him.  His  father  had  assisted  him  so  frequently 
that  he  had  declared  on  the  last  occasion  he  would 
do  so  no  more.  The  crisis  had  come.  He  must  have 
money  to  satisfy  his  creditors,  or  he  would  be  expelled 
and  ruined.  He  penned  a  last  appeal  to  him,  ending 
his  letter  with  an  oblique  but  unmistakable  threat  of 
self-destruction  if  his  request  were  refused  and  he  did 
not  receive  the  amount  by  return  of  post.  The  terri¬ 
fied  father  did  not  even  trust  to  the  post-office,  but 
hurried  with  his  letter  containing  the  required  remit¬ 
tance  to  the  guard  of  the  mail-coach,  to  whom  he  gave 
a  guinea  on  receiving  his  solemn  promise  that  so  soon 
as  the  gates  of  Brasenose  should  be  opened  next  morn¬ 
ing  he  would  deliver  the  letter  into  the  hands  of  his 
son.  The  guard,  on  the  strength  of  his  guinea,  got 
intoxicated  on  reaching  Oxford,  and  many  hours  after¬ 
wards  stumbled  up  the  old  staircase  with  the  letter  in 
his  hand.  Here  an  awful  sight  met  his  Hew.  The 


96 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


student,  who  had  despaired  of  assistance,  when  the  let¬ 
ter-bag  had  no  answer  for  him,  now  lay  dead  upon  tho 
floor  of  his  own  chamber,  weltering  in  his  own  blood 
and  with  the  pistol  by  his  side.  This  tragic  episode 
in  college  life  so  affected  Barham  that  he  abandoned 
fast  living  and  entered  the  clerical  profession,  a  step 
he  had  never  contemplated  before.” 


IMITATION  OF  A  BAD  EXAMPLE  IS  A  MONKEY’S  TALENT. 


When  the  mind  masters  any  thing,  it  takes  a  cer¬ 
tain  hue  or  tendency  from  the  quality  of  such  knowl¬ 
edge.  The  impressible  brain,  being  the  headquarters 
of  a  constant  succession  of  thought-excitements  and 
thought-discharges,  takes  the  shape  and  character  of 
that  knowledge  which  rules  all  the  lesser  sensations 
and  thoughts.  Repetition  of  feelings  and  sensations, 
frequent  associations  with  the  same  persons  and 
actions,  stamps  and  moulds  tho  mind  inevitably. 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE.  97 

Useful  knowledge  in  general  is  that  kind  of  knowl¬ 
edge  which  de-spiritualizes  the  mind  ;  it  is  persistently 
anti-metaphysical,  having  little  regard  to  changes  and 
states  of  the  internal  consciousness,  from  which  these 
master  materialists  “evolve”  nothing;  and  yet,  in 
some  of  our  highest  institutions,  what  is  called  “  useful 
knowledge  ”  is  in  reality  nothing  but  theory-building 
and  word-learning  at  the  expense  of  the  pupil’s  health 
and  memory. 

A  cultivated  woman,  who  is  now  a  teacher  in  one 
of  the  public  schools  of  New  York,  says  that,  when 
she  was  subjected  to  an  examination  at  the  High 
School,  a  proposition  or  question  was  put,  thus  :  “  The 
word  Nice;  spell  and  parse  it;  give  the  derivations ; 
state  the  various  meanings,  and  give  examples  of  their 
use.”  This  having  been  done,  and  the  word  traced 
back  to  six  or  seven  languages,  and  its  dozen  different 
shades  of  meaning  stated  and  exemplified,  the  Exam¬ 
iner  then  asked,  “  Is  there  another  word  similarly  pro¬ 
nounced  ?  if  so,  go  through  it.”  Not  one  of  the  girls 
knew  about  it,  'whereupon  the  Examiner,  looking  as 
wise  as  an  owl,  referred  them  to  the  word  “  Gneiss  ” 
— signifying  a  stratified  primary  rock,  such  a  mere 
geological  term  that  it  has  not  been  into  the  ordinary 
dictionaries  until  lately,  and  crowned  this  exhibition 
of  his  own  knowledge,  by  giving  a  bad  mark  to  every 
person  in  the  class. 


E 


98 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS 


At  a  recent  examination  of  boys  for  the  Central 
High  School,  a  number  of  bard  words — regular  puz¬ 
zlers,  most  of  which  they  would  probably  never  be 
called  upon  to  use  in  the  whole  course  of  their  after 
life — were  given  them  to  spell :  such  are  dicvphragm, 
Cotopaxi ,  Guayaquil ,  and  Afghanistan. 

The  questions  in  Grammar,  sensible  and  practical, 
were  evidently  put  to  ascertain  the  limit  of  the  candi¬ 
dates’  knowledge.  The  candidates  were  then  put 
through,  in  Mensuration.  We  do  not  see  why  the 
youthful  mind  should  be  burdened  with  the  acquiring 
a  knowledge  of  mensuration,  unless  the  pupil  intended 
to  become  an  engineer.  Rational  parents  would  pre¬ 
fer  to  have  the  boys  made  good  and  ready  arithme¬ 
ticians  and  thoroughly  acquainted,  in  such  a  business 
world  as  this,  with  the  science  of  book  keeping. 

We  should  like  to  know  the  use  of  telling  how 
to  “  define  a  parallelopipedon,  a  rhomboid,  and  a 
prism  ?  ”  What  use  to  any  boy  or  man  in  ordinary 
life  is  it,  “  when  the  solidity  of  a  sphere  is  47.71305 
inches,”  to  state  what  its  convex  surface  is  ?  Or,  when 
“  a  pole  was  broken  off"  in  a  storm,  the  broken  part 
resting  upon  the  upright,  and  the  top  on  the  ground 
27  feet  from  its  foot,  the  upright  part  measuring  3G 
feet,”  to  work  out  the  sublime  problem  of  “  what  was 
the  length  of  the  pole  ?  ”  These  questions,  it  seems 
to  us,  though  they  may  weary  and  haply  puzzle  a  class 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE. 


99 


of  boys,  belong,  in  most  instances,  to  the  magnificent 
Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useless  Knowledge,  might 
be  dispensed  with,  in  favor  of  something  more  practi 
cal  and  useful,  in  accordance  with  individual  needs 
What  is  needed  is  simply  this — a  good,  sound  educa 
tion,  which  will  fit  its  possessor  for  the  practical  work 
and  purposes  of  life,  and  yet  give  a  foundation  for  high 
er  acquirements,  should  talent  or  circumstance  render 
them  necessary.  Bet¬ 
ter  a  few  things  thor¬ 
oughly  learned,  than 
many  pretentious  ac¬ 
quirements  imperfect¬ 
ly  or  flashily  obtained. 

To  return  to  our 
definition  of  “  Ori¬ 
ginals.”  The  follow¬ 
ing  wholesome  bit  of 
autobiography —  from 
the  faithful  pen  of 
that  educated  “  Ori¬ 
ginal,”  the  pastor  of 
Plymouth  Church — 
is  submitted  here  as 
an  honest  illustration  :  8TDDT,N0  BnT  “  " 


“  Did  you  like  to  go  to  school  ?  ” 


100 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


“  No,  sir,  I  did  not.  I  detested  it — all  its  pre¬ 
cedents,  all  its  accompaniments,  and  all  its  sequents.” 

But  this  applies  only  to  the  primary  schools.  The 
academy  and  the  college  furnished  many  hours  which 
are  to  be  remembered  with  gladness  ;  the  early  schools 
not  one.  They  were  engines  of  torture,  devised  ex¬ 
pressly  to  make  good  boys  unhappy,  and  seldom  do 
contrivances  succeed  so  well.  Let  ns  see, — the  first 
school  that  we  remember  was  Miss  Collins’s.  Deacon 
Collins  lived  on  the  green,  southeast  of  old  Litchfield’s 
old  church.  Up-stairs  we  climbed,  we  remember  that ; 
on  a  long  bench  we  sat,  with  our  feet  dangling  in  the 
air,  and  a  tall,  kindly-faced  woman  there  was.  But 
besides,  we  remember  nothing — of  book,  slate,  or  reci¬ 
tation. 

Next  we  went  to  Miss  Ki’l  borne’s,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  square,  and  of  this  school  two  things  stand  forth 
in  memory  ; — first,  that  the  wind  on  this  high  hill  used 
almost  to  take  us  into  the  air ;  the  wind  that  seemed 
never  to’be  done  with  blowing.  It  blew  high  and  low. 
It  swept  along  the  ground,  slamming  open  gates, 
whirling  around  corners,  pushing  us  against  the  fence, 
and  then  into  the  ditch, — a  little  fat,  clumsy  boy,  that 
hardly  feared  any  thing  visible,  but  dreaded  all  mys¬ 
teries,  and  shook  with  vague  and  nameless  terror  at  the 
roar  of  the  wind  up  in  the  high  tree-tops — the  great 
elm  trees  that  swayed  and  groaned  as  if  they  too  were 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE.  101 


in  cruel  hands.  The  other  memory  of  this  school  was 
of  sitting  wearisomely  for  hours  on  a  bench,  and  swing¬ 
ing  our  little  legs  in  the  air,  for  want  of  length  to  reach 
the  floor.  Yes,  two  other  things  we  recall — one,  a 
pinch  on  the  ear,  and  the  other  a  rousing  slap  on  the 
head,  for  some  real  or  putative  misdemeanor,  and  a 
helpless  rage  inside  in  consequence.  But  of  lessons, 
knowledge,  pleasure,  there  is  nothing.  The  picture  is 
blank.  Not  a  word  of  tenderness — not  one  sympathiz¬ 
ing,  coddling  act,  not  the  sight  of  a  sugar-plum,  which 
in  that  day  would  have  been  to  us  more  beautiful  than 
the  stones  of  the  walls  of  the  Heavenly  City.  Oh,  why 
did  they  put  such  tempting  candy  in  long  glass  jars, 
and  set  them  in  the  windows,  to  put  little  wretches  in 


REOOLLEOTIONS  OP  THE  OLD  SOHOOL- HOUSE. 


euch  a  fever  of  longing,  and  to  make  them  so  un¬ 
happy  !  How  many  times  have  we  walked  the  long 


102 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


road  to  school  looking  all  the  way  on  the  ground,  in 
hopes  of  finding  a  cent.  Sucli  things  had  happened  ! 
Boys  there  were  in  our  own  neighborhood  who  had 
found  cents  along  the  road,  and  even  a  sixpence  in  one 
case.  There  was  a  rumor  that  twenty-five  cents  in 
one  instance  had  turned  up.  But  we  never  heeded 
that.  Had  a  quarter  been  lost,  the  whole  town  would 
have  been  searched  as  with  a  lighted  candle,  and  no 
boy  would  have  been  left  the  luck  of  finding  it.  Still 
the  story  acted  on  the  imagination  like  an  Arabian 
Night’s  tale.  But  over  against  that  window— was  it 
Buell’s  store  ? — he  never  gave  us  a  particle  of  candy, 
and  so  his  name  rests  uncertainly  in  our  memory — 
over  against  that  store  we  paused  full  often,  and  im¬ 
agined  that  the  day  might  come, — what  things  had  not 
happened  that  seemed  extravagant  to  think  of? — when 
we  should  set  up  a  store,  and  keep  candy,  and  have  a 
right  to  put  our  hand  in  just  when  we  pleased  ! 

We  liked  to  have  done  ourselves  a  wrong,  in  saying 
that  we  learned  nothing.  We  know  distinctly  that 
Harriet  one  brilliant  morning  plucked  dandelions  and 
taught  us  how  to  split  them  and  roll  them  up  into 
curls.  It  has  been  a  great  comfort  to  us  many  times 
since. 

Our  next  school  was  Miss  Pierce’s.  It  was  a 
ladies’  school.  We  were  sent  thither  to  be  under  the 
care  of  elder  sisters.  We  don’t  recollect  a  single  reci- 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE.  103 

tation.  For  days  together  we  were  regarded  as  a  mere 
punctuation-point,  not  noticed  unless  dropped  out  of 
place,  or  turned  upside  down.  Mr.  Brace — father  of 
C.  L.  B. — used  to  pass  by  and  look  at  us  with  a  know¬ 
ing  face,  and  snap  his  finger  in  a  significant  way — 
without  a  word.  But  that  mysterious  snap  was  good 
for  ten  minutes’  propriety  and  sometimes  for  even  half 
an  hour. 

Once,  for  laughing  out  loud  at  somebody’s  fun— 
one  had  only  to  put  his  tongue  in  his  cheek,  or  to 
point  a  finger  at  us,  to  set  off  that  laugh  which  always 
lay  pent-up  waiting  for  deliverance — we  were  tied  to 
the  leg  of  the  bench.  The  acute  pain  of  shame  pierced 
like  a  knife — a  kiss  cured  it.  For  a  kind-faced  girl, 
one  of  the  elder  young  ladies  finishing  her  education 
there,  looked  upon  our  tearful  eyes  and  scarlet-blush¬ 
ing  misery,  took  pity  on  us,  put  a  soft  hand  on  our 
head  and  stooped  and  kissed  us.  If  a  cup  of  cold 
water  to  a  thirsty  child  shall  bring  an  immortal  bless¬ 
ing  to  the  giver,  how  much  more  a  warm  kiss  to  a 
crying  child  unable  to  defend  itself  against  shame  ! 
May  the  angels  lay  their  hands  upon  her  as  she  dawns 
upon  heaven,  and  kiss  from  her  face  every  tear  and 
sorrow  of  the  sad  world  behind  her ! 

All  experiences  of  children  are  evanescent — and  few 
Borrows  have  they  that  are  not  drowned  in  the  first 
sleep,  dead  as  Pharaoh’s  host  in  the  Red  Sea.  The 


104 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


school  was  not  expected  to  teach  us,  and  it  fulfilled 
every  expectation.  Our  time  was  in  danger  at  home 
of  raveling  out  in  mischief,  and  the  school  was  a  mere 
basting  thread  to  hold  down  the  hem  of  good  beha-s 
ior.  Next  went  we  to  the  district  school. 

Not  a  tree!  Not  a  bush!  Only  a  stone  wall  on 
one  side  and  a  board  fence  on  the  other.  No  window 
blinds.  The  summer  sun  beat  down  full  upon  the 
small,  rough,  nnpainted  school-house.  Here  we  learned 
to  catch  flies — to  crook  pins  for  boys  to  sit  down  on, 
and  from  which  they  always  arose  with  alacrity.  If 
any  man  wishes  to  know  what  spontaneity  is,  let  him 
sit  down  on  a  well-prepared  pin.  We  learned  the 
rudiments  of  the  cost  of  “  carrying  on  ” — an  art  of  the 
largest  proportions,  and  which  in  schools,  academies, 
and  colleges  is  amply  taught,  whatever  else  is  omitted. 
Our  bearing  was  very  humble.  We  could  make  a  cat’s 
cradle  under  the  bench  unseen.  We  could  look  on  a 
book  seemingly  in  study  for  half  an  hour  without 
seeing  a  word.  We  learned  how  to  make  paper  spit- 
balls  and  to  snap  them  across  the  room  with  consid¬ 
erable  skill.  But  beyond  these  interesting  branches 
we  do  not  think  we  ever  learned  a  thing.  Why  should 
we  ?  Is  it  possible  for  a  boy  of  six  or  eight  years  in 
the  school- prison,  with  no  incitement  and  no  help, 
from  four  to  six  hours  a  day,  and  with  all  out-doors 
beating  on  the  school-house,  streaming  in  at  the  win 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE.  105 

dows,  coming,  in  bewitching  sounds,  through  every 
crack  and  crevice,  to  be  studious,  regular,  and  exem¬ 
plary  ?  A  good,  village,  primary  school  ought  to  be  a 
cross  between  a  nursery  and  a  play-room,  and  the 
teacher  ought  to  be  play-mate,  nurse,  and  mother  al1 
combined.  One  teacher  we  had,  young,  pale,  large¬ 
eyed,  sweet  of  voice,  but  not  prone  to  speak — bless  her 
— why  must  she  have  consumption  and  one  day  dis¬ 
appear  ?  And  the  next  day,  behold,  in  her  place  a 
tall,  sharp,  nervous,  energetic,  conscientious  spinster, 
whose  conscience  took  to  the  rod  as  a  very  means  of 
grace !  The  first  one  would  have  made  us  love  and 
obey  her.  We  were  even  beginning.  From  the 
second  we  were  marvellously  delivered. 

“  Mother,  I  don’t  want  to  go  to  school.” 

“  You  don’t  wish  to  grow  up  a  dunce,  do  you, 
Henry  ?  ” 

“  Yes,  inarm.” 

“  What  ?  Grow  up  like  a  poor,  ignorant  child,  go 
out  to  service,  and  live  without  knowing  any  thing  ?  ” 

“  Yes,  marm.” 

“Well,  suppose  you  begin  now.  I’ll  put  an  apron 
on  you,  and  you  shall  stay  at  home  and  do  housework. 
How  would  you  like  that  ?  ” 

“  Oh,  do,  ma.” 

Sure  enough,  we  were  permitted  to  stay  away  from 

/school,  provided  we  would  “  do  housework  ;  ”  and  all 

E-2 


106 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


summer  long  our  hands  set  the  table,  washed  dishes, 
swept  up  crumbs,  dusted  chairs,  scoured  knives ;  oui 
feet  ran  for  errands,  besides  the  usual  complement  of 
chores  in  the  barn. 

But,  oh,  did  we  not  glory  in  the  exchange?  Yes, 
and  in  the  long  summer  afternoons,  when  nothing 
more  was  left  to  do,  did  we  not  allow  a  good  aunt  to 
lead  us  along  those  paths  of  learning  which  before  our 
feet  eschewed  ? 

Great  is  our  zeal  for  common  schools,  and  disinter¬ 
ested.  For  we  are  not  biased  in  favor  of  primary 
schools  by  one  single  pleasant  memory  connected  with 
them.  They  lie  in  our  memory  as  cunningly  devised 
engines  for  putting  poor,  little,  innocent,  roguish  boys 
to  torment  because  they  are  mercurial,  fun-loving,  and 
impatient  of  restraint.” 

A  great  many  years  after  the  experience  embodied 
in  the  foregoing  bit  of  autobiography,  the  same  honest 
hand  traced  the  following  philosophical  sentences,  con¬ 
cerning  the  true  and  natural  law  of  character-building, 
beginning  with  the  discipline  of  children  : 

“  I  knew  it  would  never  do  to  give  it  up  ;  the  boy 
would  have  been  ruined  ;  I  felt  horribly,  but  I  kept 
on,  for  I  knew  that  his  will  must  be  broken,  then  or 
never.”  Young  teachers  in  their  first  school,  and 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE.  107 

young  parents  training  their  first  child,  come  to  some 
such  crisis,  and  talk  of  it  afterwards  in  words  like  the 
above.  After  the  crisis  is  past,  and  when  the  event 
comes  up  for  review,  the  parties  to  it  are  not  always 
sure  whether  the  result  was  a  great  blunder  or  a  great 
victory.  Authorities  differ. 

A  man  with  a  broken  back  is  usually  quiet  and 
sweetly  submissive ;  and  if  the  back  be  sufficiently 
broken  he  gives  very  little  trouble  to  his  rulers  or  to 
his  fellows  beyond  a  decent  burial.  Now,  will  is  the 
backbone  of  character.  To  break  one’s  will,  or  even 
to  subdue  one’s  will  by  force  or  violence,  is  a  very  crit¬ 
ical  operation.  To  break  a  backbone  judiciously,  be¬ 
longs  to  high-art  in  surgery — very  high. 

An  ingenious  device  to  control  a  runaway  horse  is 
to  shoot  him  ;  a  pistol  for  this  purpose  can  be  attached 
to  the  head-stall,  between  the  ears,  and  a  string  from 
the  trigger  to  the  driver’s  hand  puts  the  most  wilful 
animal  completely  under  control. 

The  desirable  end  to  be  sought  in  the  matter  of 
wills  or  horses,  is  intelligent  obedience.  Enforced  obe¬ 
dience  is  the  proper  result  of  breaking  a  will  or  a 
horse.  Intelligent  obedience  is  the  result  of  intelligent 
education.  In  certain  ranges  of  conduct,  all  men  learn 
obedience,  invariably.  A  hearty  boy-baby  is  a  natural 
born  rebel.  But  he  very  soon  recognizes  his  patient 
and  passionless  masters,  the  great  stone-faced  laws  of 


108 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


matter.  The  sober  mahogany  table  hit  the  boy  as  he 
got  up  from  the  floor,  and  his  toys.  Straightway  the 
boy  kicked  the  table-legs  and  listed  its  corners.  But 
the  table  was  in  no  degree  excited  by  the  crisis.  As 
often  as  this  rebel  wishes  to  try  conclusions  with  the 
table,  the  table  is  quite  ready  with  its  lesson.  Two  or 
three  lessons  are  usually  enough.  The  boy  turns  out 
for  the  table,  and  respects  it  ever  afterward. 

So  the  stove  has  its  lessons  ;  the  hot  lamp-chimney 
it’s ;  the  flight  of  stairs,  down  which  baby  wishes  to 
roll  many  times,  has  a  lesson  ;  the  hole  in  the  carpet 
trips  the  careless  toe  with  passionless  punctuality ; 
aching  fingers  teach  the  law  of  snow  and  snow-ball¬ 
ing  ;  cut  fingers  teach  children  not  to  meddle  with 
edge-tools.  If  any  parent  or  teacher  will  accept  the 
wisdom  taught  by  these  laws  of  matter  and  of  nature, 
he  will  find  similar  results  to  attend  upon  his  efforts 
as  he  stands  in  the  way  of  a  child  to  guide  and  educate 
and  govern.  Victory  is  not  to  be  won  by  a  pitched 
battle.  Let  any  child  experience  an  absolute  uniform¬ 
ity  of  law  and  administration,  and  sooner  or  later  he 
will  conform.  He  learns  to  recognize  parents  and 
teachers,  not  as  occasional  foes  and  opposers,  but  as 
existing  facts — the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  every 
day.  Penalties  need  not  be  severe,  but  they  must  be 
inevitable.  Rewards  need  not  be  costly,  but  they 
must  be  earned,  and  when  earned  punctually  awarded. 


WISDOM  OF  GETTING  KNOWLEDGE.  109 

When  an  artist,  by  a  few  bold,  strong  strokes 
makes  a  likeness,  it  is  usually  a  caricature.  The  por¬ 
trait,  life-like  and  soulful,  is  worked  up  by  ten  thou¬ 
sand  microscopic  touches,  all  of  them  guided  by  a  mas¬ 
ter’s  eye.  And  when  a  child  is  to  he  educated,  there 
may  be  educational  geniuses,  who,  by  a  few  bold 
words  or  blows,  at  critical  moments,  shape  a  character. 
But  the  perfect  work  is  accomplished  by  them  only 
who,  by  daily  little  touches,  all  loving  and  all  con¬ 
sistent,  work  up  a  result.,  which,  after  years  of  perse¬ 
verance,  we  call  success,  for  we  have  been  workers  with 
God,  and  have  worked  as  He  works.” 

So  thinks  one  who  loves  little  children  and  lives 
in  the  life  of  childhood. 

But  concerning  the  internal  principles  and  attrac¬ 
tive  methods  of  true  education,  as  developed  in  the 
Progressive  Lyceum  System,  much  more  remains  to 
be  written,  which  makes  the  following  chapter  neces 
sary  to  both  the  reader  and  the  subject. 


VII. 

The  Children’s  Progressive  Lyceum. 

THE  Plymouth  pastor,  with  a  candor  characteristic 
of  the  plenitude  of  his  wholesomeness,  testihes 
that  he  has  “  not  one  single  pleasant  memory  ”  con¬ 
nected  with  primary  schools  ;  they  lie  in  his  recollec¬ 
tion  “as  cunningly  devised  engines  for  putting  poor, 
little,  innocent,  roguish  boys  to  torment ;  ”  and  even 
the  cver-grateful  Whittier,  reviewing  the  shadow- 
shapes  of  memory,  recalls  the  patient  old  country 
pedagogue — 


THE  PROGRESSIVE  LYCEUM. 


Ill 


“  In  that  smoked  and  dingy  room, 
Where  the  district  gave  him  rule 
O’er  its  ragged  winter  school.” 


But,  0,  believe  me,  kind  reader,  a  higher  revela¬ 
tion  has  dawned  upon  the  world.  As  there  is  an 
octave  of  colors,  and  an  octave  of  sounds,  higher  than 
those  which  come  within  the  range  of  purely  physical 
eyes  and  ears,  and  therefore  unknown,  because  invisi¬ 
ble  and  inaudible  to  ordinary  humanity  ;  so  is  there  a 
system  of  physical 
and  mental  culture 
higher  than  any 
thing  now  indi¬ 
cated  or  known 
in  the  popular 
world  of  educa¬ 
tion.  No  philoso¬ 
pher  ever  imag¬ 
ined  the  possibil¬ 
ity  of  making  per¬ 
fect  men  and 
women  out  of  boys 
and  girls  as  they 
are  at  present  in¬ 
structed  and  mis- 
educated.  Tiie 

methods  Ol  mo-  ENTERED  ry  VIOLENCE, 


112 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


tlier  Nature  are  generally  misconceived,  or  else  en¬ 
tirely  ignored,  by  the  powers  that  be. 

Compare  the  trifold  organization  of  the  little  child 
— the  foundation  of  the  future  man  or  woman — with 
the  world’s  educational  methods,  and  at  once  you  dis¬ 
cern  the  causes  why  children  dread  to  attend  either 
public  or  private  schools.  For  the  same  reason  they 
dread  shoes  that  pinch  their  tender  feet,  or  garments 
that  aggravate  because  they  do  not  fit  and  meet  the 
demands  of  their  young  and  sensitive  bodies.  A  true 
mechanic  makes  his  machinery  exactly  to  accomplish 
the  end  and  uses  which  originally  fired  his  ambition 
and  inspired  his  understanding.  Such  a  mechanic, 
true  to  the  laws  of  his  noble  science,  works  to  one 
great  point :  To  accomplish  the  largest  and  best  results 
by  his  invention,  with  as  little  noise,  with  as  little  fric¬ 
tion,  with  as  little  wear  and  tear  and  expense,  as  is 
possible  in  the  nature  and  constitution  of  things. 

Judged  by  this  standard,  what  must  the  wise  think 
of  those  who  invented  our  public  system  of  education  ? 
Its  manifold  violations  of  the  laws  of  mental  economy, 
its  unadaptations  to  the  organic  constitution — occasion¬ 
ing  unspeakable  aggravations  and  terrible  losses,  by 
a  succession  of  exasperating  frictions  upon  childhood 
and  its  forming  character— all  this  transcends  the 
largest  monstrosities  in  the  realm  of  mechanical  ab¬ 
surdity. 


THE  PROGRESSIVE  LYCEUM. 


113 


I  have  adduced  the  testimony  of  a  few  of  our  best 
thinkers  against  existing  methods ;  therefore,  your 
verdict  must  correspond,  and  the  crudities  of  the  popu¬ 
lar  schemes  must  be  condemned,  while  better  methods 
are  being  instituted. 

The  higher  octave  of  harmonies,  and  the  magnifi¬ 
cent  scale  of  adaptations — to  which  I  have  just  at¬ 
tracted  your  attention — are  just  now  known  among  a 
few  advanced  minds,  and  is  called  ‘‘  The  Children’s 
Progressive  Lyceum.” 

ural  and  involun¬ 
tary  workings  of 

when  you  are  most 
sincerely  like  a  ==a_^._ 
child,  and  you 
will  immediately 

come  to  a  correct  -T~ 

Vr.nnr1.ns1,.  ..  I-Vn  CHILDREN  INTUITIVELY  LOOK  AWAY  FROM  BOOBS 

knowledge  of  the  TO  objects  in  nature. 

unfailing  princi¬ 
ples  and  beautiful  methods  urged  by  mother  Nature. 

Here,  in  this  volume,  an  analysis  of  this  celestial 
plan  and  method  is  not  deemed  appropriate.  The  in¬ 
vestigator  can  find  it,  in  bold  outline,  in  a  little  book 
bearing  the  expressive  name  of  the  system.  But  it  is 

in  order  here  to  affirm  that  its  high  birth  and  corre- 
8 


114 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


sponding  adaptations  are  congenial  to  the  whole  life 
of  children. 


THE  NEW  SHIP  CALLS  FOR  NEW  BUILDERS. 


The  immortal  spirit  is  the  fountain.  The  everlast¬ 
ing  waters  of  this  fountain  are  its  principles  of  love. 
The  final  coherent  manifestation  of  these  principles,  ir 
their  totality,  is  called  wisdom.  The  growth  of  wis¬ 
dom  is  from  within,  outwardly,  by  the  attractions  of 
congenial  methods.  Wisdom  implies  roundness,  or  a 
perfect  balance  and  wholesomeness  (holiness),  includ¬ 
ing  the  normal  development  and  exercise  of  the  bodily 
powers.  Wisdom  means  also  the  growth  and  system¬ 
atic  cultivation  of  the  social,  intellectual,  and  spiritual 
elements  and  powers  of  individual  existence.  And  it 
is  most  religiously  believed  that  the  methods  of  the 
Lyceum  are,  in  every  particular,  adapted  to  the  exact 
and  complete  accomplishment  of  these  sublime  personal 


THE  PROGRESSIVE  LYCEUM. 


115 


ends  and  uses.  Therefore,  it  has  been  and  is  presented 
in  grand  outlines,  with  all  its  imperfections  and  un¬ 
regulated  details,  as  the  most  loved  plan,  best  known 
in  loftier  worlds  ;  of  wThicli  the  grouped  harmonies  of 
the  physical  universe,  in  their  cohesions  and  varied 
beauties,  are  but  an  outward  revelation. 

Under  a  republican  form  of  government,  the  most 
important  question  is  education.  The  true  Mind- 
Builder  is  the  true  architect  of  the  Republic.  Unedu¬ 
cated  parents  do  not  appreciate  the  advantages  of 
education  ;  while  impoverished  parents  cannot  afford 
to  educate  their  children.  The  first  bring  up  their  off¬ 
spring  in  heedlessness  and  vices  ;  the  second  put  them 
to  distraining  and  remunerative  hard  work.  Public 
schools  and  compulsory  education  are  consequently 
demanded.  The  Republic  has  a  vested  interest  in  the 
mind  and  body  of  every  person.  And  true  education 
is  at  the  bottom  of  all  true  progress  in  a  government 
constituted  like  ours.  A  clearer  comprehension  of 
some  of  the  ideas  and  plans  I  would  urge,  may  be 
derived  from  a  synopsis  : 

1.  The  mind  is  built  and  individualized  from  germs 
implanted  before  birth  ;  therefore,  true  education  is 
from  within  outward — e  duco ,  to  draw  out — by  attrac¬ 
tion  rather  than  by  compulsion. 

2.  The  thinking  powers,  through  numberless  repeti- 


116 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


tions  of  effort  in  one  direction,  acquire  the  habit  of 
clear-thinking  in  that  direction.  A  great  variety  of 
impressions  may  be  received  during  a  period  of  extra¬ 
ordinary  cerebral  susceptibility ;  but  strength  and 
cohesion  and  availability  are  at  length  sacrificed  to  the 
“  variety  ”  and  the  “  celerity  ”  of  the  acquisition,  and 
the  mind  is  certain  to  be  debilitated  to  its  very  roots. 

3.  The  operations  of  the  human  mind,  like  the 
operations  of  all  other  great  organs  in  nature,  are 
rotary  and  revolutionary,  or  over  and  over  again,  in 
circles  of  endless  recurrence,  with  a  spiral  ascending 
movement  toward  a  climax  or  crisis,  which  is  the  true 
basic  principle  whereby  the  thinking  powers  and 
memory  can  be  practically  and  enduringly  educated. 

4.  A  true  process  would  naturally  develop  a  de¬ 
lightful  feeling  of  sympathy  between  preceptor  and 
pupil — a  kind  of  sacred  friendship  ;  which  would  open, 
and  keep  susceptible,  the  heart  and  mind  of  the  child, 
investing  the  school-room  and  the  very  presence  of  the 
teacher  with  a  charm  in  the  highest  degree  favorable 
to  government  and  education. 

5.  The  true  process  is  from  within  outward,  by 
means  of  conversation  on  all  objects  and  subjects  with¬ 
in  the  scope  of  the  child’s  observation,  attraction,  and 
natural  abilities.  The  objects  of  the  mineral,  vege¬ 
table,  animal,  and  human  kingdoms  are  clustering  on 
every  side  about  the  pupil.  The  rudiments  of  knowl- 


THE  PROGRESSIVE  LYCEUM. 


117 


edge  are  delightfully  imparted  and  acquired  by  this 
6weet  oral  intercourse  between  preceptor  and  child. 
After  a  certain  degree  of  learning  has  been  attained, 
by  this  process,  the  teacher  may  employ  books,  charts, 
diagrams,  black-boards,  instruments,  illustrations  of 
the  arts  and  sciences,  and  every  other  reasonable  auxil¬ 
iary,  to  augment  the  mind’s  healthful  progress  and  at¬ 
traction  toward  practical  knowledge. 

6.  Healthful  progress  means  a  correct  development 
of  the  entire  physical  structure  along  with  the  culture 
of  the  purely  social,  mental,  and  moral.  The  Egyp¬ 
tians,  Persians,  Greeks,  Asiatics,  Romans,  gave  strict 
attention  to  the  culture  of  the  bodies  of  their  favorites. 
All  children  in  a  true  Republic  are  “  favorites,”  and 
nothing  is  too  good  for  either  their  physical  or  mental 
organization.  For  the  purpose  of  complete  physical 
culture,  loose-fitting  garments  are  of  preeminent  im¬ 
portance  for  our  boys  and  girls. 

7.  All  time  spent  in  studying  antiquated  languages 
is  lost  beyond  redemption.  Classical  studies,  so  called, 
are  valuable  to  those  who  desire  knowledge  of  the 
poetry,  mythologies,  theologies,  speculations,  dreams, 
and  fables  of  long-ago-dead  epochs.  The  great  living 
world  reaps  little  nourishment  from  mind-crops  grown 
twenty  and  thirty  centuries  ago. 

8.  Teachers  and  mothers  ought  to  be  paid  the 
highest  salaries.  Mothers  are  prime-sources  of  agen- 


ns  JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 

cies  engaged  in  modelling  and  building  tbe  young  im¬ 
mortal,  and  they  should  be  aided  by  fathers  in  cooper¬ 
ating  with  teachers  in  the  mind-developing  process,  for 
which  schools  were  established.  Those  who  teach 
the  youngest  children  ought  to  be  most  liberally  re¬ 
munerated.  No  position  involves  greater  responsibil¬ 
ities.  Little  children  demand  the  highest  order  of 
talents,  and  the  profoundest  powers  of  self-discipline, 
and  a  stock  of  long  suffering  patience  ;  and  every  rea¬ 
sonable  inducement  should  be  offered  to  those  rare 
persons,  “  both  male  and  female,”  who  can  and  do 
every  day  lovingly  mingle  with,  control,  retine,  and 
educate  the  tenderest  and  youngest  minds. 

9.  It  is  impossible  for  one  teacher  to  justly  educate 
a  large  number  of  children  at  the  same  time.  Lyceum 
groups  are  consequently  limited  to  twelve  members. 
Experience  and  philosophy  uniformly  testify  that  no 
one  teacher  can  rightfully  control  and  culture  any 
larger  number.  It  is  a  short-sighted  and  immoral 
economy  which  insists  upon  crowding  into  one  school¬ 
room  and  under  one  teacher  a  mass  of  children  moved 
by  conflicting  ages  and  temperaments. 

10.  The  school  and  the  family  must  cooperate,  and 
not,  as  now,  antagonize ;  with  different  teachings, 
different  examples,  and  different  methods  of  discipline. 
Home  religion — the  only  religion  which  is  pure  and 
undefiled  —  is  morality  practised  throughout  every 


THE  PROGRESSIVE  LYCEUM. 


119 


twenty-four  hours.  The  joys  of  family  are  the  fruits 
of  righteousness.  The  spiritual  influence  of  well-ordered 
home  upon  society  is  like  that  which  angels  exert  upon 
strangers  in  the  celestial  habitations.  Home  religion 
is  a  “  means  of  grace  ”  to  all  who  gather  harmoniously 
in  a  circle  of  friendship  and  love,  around  the  genial 
fireside  sanctuary. 

11.  Sweet  and  pure  home-amusements,  with  uni¬ 
form  parental  kindness  and  a  due  respect  for  the  indi¬ 
vidual  rights  and  private  trials  of  each  juvenile  mem¬ 
ber,  is  the  certain  counter-attraction  to  vicious  haunts  ; 
the  only  prevention  to  save  the  young  from  the  eve¬ 
ning  dissipations  of  bar-rooms,  billiard-saloons,  club¬ 
houses,  and  the  select  party  card-table. 

12.  Heart-development  should  keep  step  with  the 
growth  of  the  intellectual  powers.  Grace  in  the  affec¬ 
tions  lends  beauty  to  the  face  and  sweetness  to  the 
body.  One  cardinal  grace  is  sincerity,  which  is  the 
key  to  enduring  and  perfect  confidence  ;  sincerity,  the 
only  power  that  can  open,  and  keep  open,  the  wise 
and  magnanimous  heart;  sincerity,  the  only  influence 
that  can  develope  the  impulses  and  characteristics  of 
children  into  sweetest  and  wisest  ways. 

13.  Happy  the  father  and  mother  whose  children 
love  their  home  better  than  the  quarrelsome  ways  and 
discordant  amusements  of  the  street.  Professional  and 
Btrictly  literary  men,  and  fathers  accustomed  to  great 


120 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


business  cares,  are  apt  to  neglect  their  children  in  their 
sports  and  recreations. 

14.  Children  love  to  hear  true  stories,  and  to  look 
through  books  filled  with  suggestive  illustrations. 
There  is  a  wonderful  educational  power  in  the  mute 
language  of  pictures.  The  young  are  keenly  and  spon¬ 
taneously  alive  to  the  things  of  sense.  Their  growing 
bodies  demand  wholesome  exercise,  fresh  air,  healthy 
food,  plenty  of  sleep,  and  easy-fitting  garments. 

15.  Conversation  is  more  educational  than  books. 
Object-teaching  is,  therefore,  the  surest  primary 
method  of  imparting  knowledge.  It  is  the  privilege  and 
the  prerogative  of  parents  to  select  teachers,  schools, 
books,  objects,  scenes,  stories,  and  entertainments. 

16.  Kindle  a  bright  fire  in  your  beautiful  home. 
Do  not  circumscribe  the  harmless  plays,  nor  crush  too 
suddenly  down  the  noisy  sports  of  your  children. 
Check  nothing  with  impatience.  Approve  every 
thing,  except  that  which  inflames  some  dangerous 
appetite,  or  disturbs  the  sacred  rights  and  harmonies 
of  the  household. 

17.  In  another  particular  the  school  and  the  home 
should  be  harmonized :  Let  equal  rights  and  equal 
responsibilities  be  in  all  relations  the  ruling  principle. 
The  unjust  world  gives  into  men’s  hands  the  power  to 
make  laws  and  the  might  to  execute  them.  This  plan 
is  founded  upon  the  ancient  barbarian  doctrine  that 


THE  PROGRESSIVE  LYCEUM. 


121 


“  might  makes  right.”  Women  and  children  are 
taught  and  commanded  to  obey. 

18.  But  a  new  light  has  come  into  the  world.  Just 
and  wise  men  no  longer  believe  in  the  inferiority  of  i 
women.  And  they  now  believe  in  the  Rights  of  Chil¬ 
dren  !  Men  and  women  naturally  stand  side  by  side 
as  brothers  and  sisters,  and  as  fathers  and  mothers,  and 
neither  should  infringe  upon  the  other’s  existence, 
liberties,  or  happiness. 

19.  And  the  same  principle  of  exact  divine  justice 
is  applicable  to  the  treatment  and  government  of  the 
servants  and  other  dependents  in  your  home.  They, 
inevitably,  have  sore  trials  and  annoyances  inseparable 
from  their  incessant  labors.  Their  estate  of  servitude 
is  frequently  the  effect  of  social  misfortunes — of  purely 
evanescent  circumstances — consequently,  one  frequently 
meets  servants,  who,  by  organization,  possess  finer  feel¬ 
ings  and  exhibit  nobler  intellectual  faculties  than  those 
more  pecuniarily  fortunate  ones  for  whom  they  are 
compelled  to  labor.  They  are  usually  deficient  in  the 
graces  of  book-education  ;  therefore  they  exhibit  fee¬ 
ble,  or  eccentric,  or  wild  understandings.  Hence,  with 
ardent  temperaments,  servants  are  quick  in  personal 
pride  and  resent  with  passion  any  real  or  fancied 
wrongs.  Housekeepers  and  unjust  mothers  unwitting¬ 
ly  cause  a  large  part  of  the  terrible  discords  in  their 

working  departments  and  nurseries.  Selfishness  is  at 

F'1 


122 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


the  root  of  the  social  Upas.  Children  receive  a  mis- 
education  for  life  from  the  mal-practices  and  vicious 
examples  prevailing  in  the  realm  of  father  and  mother. 

20.  In  a  word,  the  Alpha  and  Omega  of  the  whole 
harmonial  gospel  of  education  is  to  develop  harmoni¬ 
ously  both  the  body  and  the  mind  ;  and  to  this  end 
there  must  exist  a  harmony  between  the  methods  of 
the  School  and  the  methods  of  the  Home. 


Yin. 

Lyceum  Teachings  for  Children. 

WISDOM’S  ways,  although  infinitely  diversified 
and  immeasurable  in  their  sweep,  are  yet  in¬ 
variably  peaceful  and  pleasant. 

But  if  scientists  demand  additional  ovidence  to 
establish  the  theory  that  man’s  ancestors  were  savage 
inhabitants  of  the  wilderness,  one  might  adduce  the 
existence  of  that  active  instinct  in  human  nature, 
whereby  most  persons  manage  to  avoid  the  paths  of 


124 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


Wisdom  and  choose  instead  the  absurd,  conflicting,  and 
unspeakably  miserable  ways  of  Folly. 

What  evidence  does  a  man  possess  when  he  is 
physically  right?  He  is  physically  happy.  What 
evidence,  when  he  is  mentally  and  morally  right  ?  He 
is  mentally  and  morally  happy.  How  does  he  know 
that  his  ways  are  wrong  and  foolish?  He  is  incon¬ 
sistent,  quarrelsome,  restless,  and  miserable.  When 
he  walks  in  Wisdom’s  ways,  how  does  he  know  ?  His 
life  is  coherent,  peaceful,  harmonious,  and  progressive. 
Effects  and  causes,  being  bound  together  by  the  ties  of 
fellowship,  are  logically  and  inseparably  married. 
Their  fruit  are  legitimate  offspring. 

The  least  logical  reflection,  it  seems  to  me,  will  con¬ 
duct  any  consistent  mind  to  the  conclusion,  that  “  Ob¬ 
servation  ”  is  the  president,  as  Memory  is  the  treasurer, 
of  all  sensuous  knowledge.  The  physical  senses  out¬ 
rank  intellect,  during  the  early  years  of  every  one’s 
life ;  just  as,  during  this  life,  intellect  is  permitted  to 
outrank  Intuition,  which  is  the  constitutional  author¬ 
ity  of  spirit  consciousness. 

Soul  lives  like  an  atmosphere,  in  an  elementary 
condition,  within  the  senses ;  the  spirit,  fully  organ¬ 
ized,  live  within  the  soul ;  the  eternal,  impersonal 
essences  live  within  the  spirit. 

Therefore,  in  children  as  well  as  in  adults,  the 
senses  are  first  in  the  election  canvass.  They  are  first 


LYCEUM  TEACHINGS. 


125 


to  proclaim  their  “  inalienable  rights  ”  upon  all  occa¬ 
sions  and  under  all  circumstances.  Not  trammelled 
with  humility,  but  emboldened  by  that  amusing,  in¬ 
corrigible  audacity  which  is  natural  to  intrinsic  igno¬ 
rance,  they  nominate  themselves  as  legitimate  candi¬ 
dates  for  the  highest  offices  in  the  gift  of  universal 
Knowledge.  In  truth,  to  do  them  exact  justice,  wo 
must  say  that  the  senses  are  “  wonderfully  made,”  and 
that  they  instinctively  know  that  they  are  certain  to 
be  elected  on  every  straight  ballot.  They  ascend  fear¬ 
lessly  and  rule  with  power  upon  all  the  thrones  of 
Knowledge ;  because,  simply,  they  have  an  indisputa¬ 
ble  title  to  “  the  divine  right  of  kings.” 

After  them  (the  five  royal  bodily  senses),  comes  the 
modest  sovereign  grand  master  within  the  temple — the 
immortal  Spirit.  The  best  is  always  last  to  come. 
Spirit,  being  highest  of  all,  arrives  last  of  all.  It 
comes  silently  with  the  host  of  lesser  lights,  marching 
with  the  long  procession  of  experiences,  which  contrib¬ 
ute  so  largely  to  individual  development. 

Forever,  in  this  material  world,  the  senses  will  take 
precedence  of  both  the  soul  and  the  spirit,  in  the  acqui¬ 
sition  of  knowledge,  and  in  the  conduct  of  life. 

On  philosophical  principles,  therefore,  you  should 
begin  to  teach  yourself  and  your  children  to  take  the 
first  step  just  right — to  observe  with  accuracy. 

Names  and  the  uses  of  things,  clothed  in  accurate 


126 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


words,  certainly  follow  in  the  path  of  accurate  observa¬ 
tion.  Correct  verbal  or  written  descriptions  of  things 
are  impossible  without  a  basis  of  correct  inspection  of 
the  things  themselves. 


Children  take  notice  first  of  the  forms  of  things ; 
next  of  the  colors  ;  next,  of  differences  ;  next,  of  re¬ 
semblances  ;  lastly,  of  uses,  or  rather  of  the  relations 
of  things  to  each  other  and  to  the  bodily  sensation. 

Objects  accurately  cognized  by  the  senses  awaken 
corresponding  thoughts  in  the  mind ;  and  this  is  the 
absolute  basis  of  all  true  knowledge  ;  and  the  method , 
if  adopted  by  the  world’s  educators,  would  be  uni¬ 
versally  recognized  and  approved  as  the  pleasant  ways 
of  Wisdom. 

Suppose,  just  here,  at  the  very  fountain,  we  try  an 


LYCEUM  TEACHINGS. 


127 


experiment.  Mary’s  perception  and  observation  of 
things  are  uniformly  more  accurate  than  William’s. 
Therefore,  her  descriptions  are  invariably  more  reliabla 


WILLIAM  AND  MARY  IN  CONVERSATION. 


and  always  more  interesting  than  his.  Now,  for  a  trial 
of  your  discerning  and  analytical  powers,  O  most 
friendly  reader  !  Taking  cognizance  of  the  picture  of 
William  and  Mary,  let  me  ask  you  :  Do  you  discover 
therein  more  than  six  different  forms  ?  Are  there  less 
or  more  than  ten  objects  in  the  picture  ?  Let  us 
look :  Girl,  boy,  pillars,  platform,  horses,  driver,  car¬ 
riage,  fence,  trees,  shrubbery,  birds,  open  window,  and 
a  spectator. 

1.  How  many  objects  ? 

2.  Where  are  they  ? 

3.  What  are  they  called  ? 

4.  What  are  their  vses  ? 


J28 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS 


Thus  an  object  lesson  is  begun.  Let  us  proceed 
npon  this  principle.  The  mental  budding,  the  graft¬ 
ing,  the  exquisite  novelty,  and  the  enchanting  delight 
accompanying  the  fruition,  will  astonish  and  richly 
reward  every  parent  and  teacher.  “  Show  us  a  phi¬ 
losopher,”  writes  a  close  observer,  “  show  us  a  sage 

that  a  child  cannot  puz¬ 
zle.  We  have  never 
seen  any  such  phenom¬ 
enon.  JRoll  all  the  wise¬ 
acres  of  the  world  into 
one,  and  a  school-boy’s 
whys  and  wherefores 
shall  confound  the  com¬ 
bination.  If,  when  the 
Admirable  Crichton  tra¬ 
velled  through  Europe, 
affixing  his  challenges 
to  the  gates  of  colleges, 
the  professors  had  pit¬ 
ted  their  six-year-olds 
against  the  prodigy,  we 
warrant  they  would  have 
propounded  problems 
ntoes  leapino  PROM  the  old  oaken  beyond  his  skill  to  solve. 

BUCKET’  The  truth  is,  that  it  is 

much  easier  to  answer  a  learned  man  than  a  child. 


LYCEUM  TEACHINGS. 


129 


Your  philosophers  understand  well  enough  that  there 
are  matters  concerning  which  all  men  are  equally 
ignorant,  and  with  commendable  tact  and  prudence 
they  steer  clear  of  them.  But  children  are  bold  and 
persistent  querists.  They  are  not  satisfied  with  evasive 
replies.  They  cross-examine  with  merciless  perse¬ 
verance,  and  sometimes  drive  the  most  profound  to  tb<- 
refuge  of  ‘  I  don’t  know.’ 

“  But  even  that  confession — so  humiliating  to 
grown-up  wisdom — does  not  always  silence  the  youth 
ful  searcher  after  knowledge.  He  is  apt  to  think  you 
ought  to  know,  and  to  ask  why  you  don't  know.  We 
really  like  to  set  a  smart  child  on  a  pedant.  It  is 
astonishing  how  the  little  interlocutor  will  worry  and 
badger  the  man  of  books.  But  it  does  him  good.  It 
teaches  him  how  much  he  does  not  know.  It  is  very 
foolish  for  any  man  to  give  himself  airs  on  the  score  of 
acquirements  which  do  not  suffice  to  save  him  from 
being  cornered  and  convicted  of  ignorance  by  a  mere 
babe.” 

The  complete  justice  of  these  reflections  can  be 
easily  manifested.  Place,  for  example,  before  your 
child  any  picture  you  may  select  for  observation  and 
analyzation ;  or,  take  any  familiar  object  in  nature — 
an  apple,  a  turnip,  a  kitten,  a  dog,  a  horse,  a  table,  a 
flower,  a  leaf,  a  pin,  a  piece  of  bread  and  butter ! 

Now  interrogate  your  darling,  or  induce  your  pupil 
9  F 


130 


JETS  0?  NEW  MEANINGS. 


freely  to  ask  questions.  Alas !  how  rapidly  you  slide 
down  the  inclined  plane  from  the  summit  of  conceit  to 
the  dead  barren  bottom  level  of  ignorance.  The  ex¬ 
ceeding  little  which  you  really  know  concerning  the 
elements  of  truth  contained  in  a  horse,  or  a  pin,  would 
astound  and  humiliate  a  far  greater  mind  than  yours. 
How  many  ages  elapsed,  how  many  myriads  of  men 
have  been  and  gone,  before  a  pin  was  made  ?  Whence 
and  how  is  the  pin-metal  obtained  ?  By  what  ma¬ 
chinery  is  it  rounded  ?  and  pointed  ?  and  headed  ?  and 
prepared  so  rapidly  in  rows  for  the  market  ?  When 
is  a  pin  better  than  a  nail  or  a  needle  ? 

All  the  time  you  must  intelligently  remember, 
that  to  develop  correct  habits  of  observation,  by  means 
of  correct  interrogations  and  conversation,  is  funda¬ 
mental  to  and  inseparable  from  a  true  education. 

Look  at  the  next  picture ;  describe  in  good  lan¬ 
guage  all  you  see  in  it.  Give  the  correct  names  and 
the  known  uses  of  all  things  visible.  Do  you  discover 
any  animals?  If  so,  how  many?  What  is  the  man 
doing  at  the  well  ?  Why  does  he  want  water  ?  With 
what  does  he  draw  the  cooling  fluid  ?  Why  does  he 
look  so  astonished  ?  What  is  that  just  leaping  from 
the  bucket  ?  What  is  the  difference  between  a  frog 
and  a  toad  ?  What  do  they  eat  ?  Are  they  poisonous, 
or  harmless?  What  difference  in  color?  in  habits? 
in  places  they  occupy  in  Nature  ? 


LYCEUM  TEACHINGS. 


131 


To  show  bj  example  how  to  do  any  thing  is  worth 
a  thousand  times  more  than  to  teach,  by  mere  words 
and  silly  platitudes,  how  it  ought  to  be  done.  The  lady 
of  the  house,  instead 
of  tel  liner  her  igno- 
rant  young  working 
maid  how  she  ought 
to  inspect  eggs  just 
brought  in  from  the 
grocery,  does  far  bet¬ 
ter  by  just  going  in¬ 
to  her  kitchen  and 
showing  the  observ¬ 
ing  maid,  by  exam¬ 
ple,  exactly  how  to 
shade  the  egg  in  her  a  habit  of  observation. 

hands,  while  holding 

it  between  her  eyes  and  the  bright  sunlight,  in  order 
to  determine  the  exact  condition  of  the  otherwise  un¬ 
certain  object. 

What  is  the  color,  of  an  unhealthy  egg,  when  thus 
examined  ? 

What  its  appearance,  when  fresh  and  sound  ? 

What  is  the  name  of  the  shape  of  an  egg? 

What  is  the  difference  between  an  oval  and  an 
ellipse?  (Consult  the  first  chapter  in  this  volume.) 
Show  with  your  pencil  the  two  forms,  and  their  unlike- 


132 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


ness  and  resemblances,  and  correctly  write  the  name 
of  each  mathematical  figure  under  your  drawings. 

Look  at  the  picture  again,  and  tell  how  many  ob¬ 
jects  you  see  ? 

And  where  they  are  ? 

And  their  names  ?  and  their  uses  ? 


A  PICTURE  PULL  OP  MEANING. 


Whatever  a  healthy-minded  child  sees  he  wants 
immediately  to  know  all  about.  Who  is  good  and 
wise  and  patient  enough  to  answer  a  bright  child’s 
ever-recurring  questions  ?  Every  thing  relating  espe- 
cialiy  to  animals  and  plants  marvellously  excites  the 
infantile  and  juvenile  senses ;  thence,  that  is,  from  the 
sensations  and  reports  of  the  senses,  in  regular  succes¬ 
sion,  is  developed  and  strengthened  the  imagination 


LYCEUM  TEACHINGS. 


133 


reason,  and  intuition,  and  the  well-trained  faculties  of 
memory  and  judgment. 

The  quickness  of  the  eye  and  ear,  and  the  readi¬ 
ness  of  the  reasoning  and  remembering  faculties  to 
receive  and  elaborate  impressions,  depend  upon  the 
natural  temperament  and  the  fitness  of  the  organiza¬ 
tion.  In  these  respects  the  difference  between  chil¬ 
dren,  born  of  the  same  parents,  is  sometimes  world¬ 
wide  and  irreconcilable.  Nevertheless,  in  every  case 
imaginable,  whether  the  organization  be  defective  or 
propitious,  every  born  child  is  susceptible  to  considera¬ 
ble  rudimental  education  by  this  attractive  method. 

The  young  mind  is  accessible  from  every  side  of  its 
existence.  Its  electrical  sympathies  flow  out  first 
toward  what  is  most  attractive  and  congenial  to  its 
own  immediate  wants.  Objects  with  bright  colors 
first ;  then  things,  which  satisfy  hunger,  with  especial¬ 
ly  attractive  flavors  ;  thirdly,  things  animated,  for  any 
thing  in  motion  is  intensely  attractive ;  next,  how 
various  things  are  used  by  papa,  or  by  mamma  ;  then 
sounds ,  even  harsh  concussions,  become  essential  to 
infantile  happiness.  A  child  will  throw  aside  the  most 
delightful  playthings  to  listen  to  novel  noises  from 
whatever  source.  All  these  propositions,  as  funda¬ 
mental  to  the  education  of  the  sensibilities  and  the 
development  of  the  knowing  faculties,  must  be  self- 
evident  to  every  thinking  mind. 


134 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


In  this  fountain  volume,  small  as  it  is,  you  can  find 
pictures,  and  jets  of  new  meanings — or  representations 
and  signs  of  things — sufficient  to  test  the  truth  of  this 
theory,  and  to  lay  the  foundation  of  your  child’s  true 
and  lasting  education.  Make  yourself  thoroughly  the 
master  of  the  thoughts  awakened  by  an  accurate  ob¬ 
servation  of  the  pictures  ;  then,  in  a  simple  and  concise 
manner,  with  fewest  possible  words,  which  you  should 
be  willing  to  repeat  an  hundred  times,  if  necessary, 
and  thus  you  are  prepared  to  teach. 

Take  an  apple  :  (1)  its  form  ;  (2)  its  color ;  (3)  its 
flavor ;  (4)  its  uses ;  (5)  its  resemblances ;  (6)  its 
origin  ;  (7)  the  Divine  love  and  wisdom,  as  manifested 
in  its  adaptations  to  the  wants  of  mankind. 


Children  and  youth  are  constantly  asking  for 
change,  variety,  and  novelty.  They  immediately  drop 


LYCEUM  TEACHINGS. 


135 


one  thing  for  another,  and  they  ask  and  long  for  vari¬ 
ety  and  inconsistency  throughout  all  their  waking 
hours ;  because,  to  be  brief,  their  mental  impressibil¬ 
ity  is  superficial,  while  their  sensuous  activity  is  un¬ 
controllable.  Motion  is  a  safety-valve  in  the  quick  life 
of  the  young.  It  is,  therefore,  impossible  for  a  child 
to  think  consecutively  upon  any  one  subject,  or  to  feel 
long  from  any  cause  for  joy  or  sorrow.  In  the  system 
of  the  Progressive  Lyceum,  which  is  the  child’s  most 
natural  school,  complete  provision  is  made  to  meet 
childhood’s  imperative  and  just  demand  for  diversion 
and  recreative  change.  Children  naturally  need  to 
drop  the  consideration  of  a  lesson — they  even  need  to 
abandon  impulsively  for  a  time  the  most  delightful 
amusement — so  that  they  may  return  to  it  with  fresh¬ 
ness,  and  feel  the  joy  and  appetite  awakened  by  the 
original  attraction. 

In  conclusion,  a  word:  Parents,  guardians,  or  teach¬ 
ers  who  are  not  constituted  and  trained  so  that  they 
can  comprehend  children — can  take  pleasure  in  their 
incessant  changeabilities,  and  with  gentle  patience  give 
audience  to  their  ever-recurring  questions — are  suita¬ 
ble  for  neither  of  the  high  offices  designated,  and  ought 
to  assign  their  functions  and  places  to  individuals 
rightly  and  appropriately  organized. 

Wisdom’s  ways  are  always  beautiful.  They  are  as 
perfect  in  the  simplicities  of  children  as  in  the  pro- 


136 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


fluidities  of  maturity.  But,  alas !  how  few  there  are 
who  enter  in  at  “  the  strait  gate  ”  which  opens  upon 
the  temple  of  Truth,  surrounded  by  the  immeasurable 
gardens  of  God,  and  traversed  by  the  eternal  paths  of 
pleasantness  and  peace. 


IX. 

Imagination  as  an  Educational  Force. 

IT  must  not  be  inferred,  from  the  principles  so 
warmly  advocated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  that 
my  impression  is  to  exalt  object-teaching  above  every 
other  method.  Children  do  not  always  remain  in  the 


138 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS 


juvenile  stage.  A  few  years  convey  them  to  where 
their  enlarged  and  kindling  powers  demand  higher 
methods  of  thought  and  expression.  Objects  teach 
children  to  comprehend  the  meaning  and  uses  of  lan¬ 
guage.  “In  old  times,”  says  Ruskin,  “men  used 
their  powers  of  painting  to  show  the  objects  of  faith  ; 
in  later  times  they  used  the  objects  of  faith  that  they 
might  show  their  powers  of  painting.”  But  during 
the  period  of  youth  the  quickened  imagination — whose 
office  is  to  perceive  truth  and  to  picture  ideas  upon  the 
reasoning  faculties — as  an  educational  force  calls  for 
new  fields  of  exercise.  By  this  spiritual  power  the 


WHERE  CHILDREN  LEARN  TO  READ,  WRITE,  AND  CIPHER. 


mind  is  lifted  above  the  persistent  downwardness  and 
materialism  of  the  senses. 


IMAGINATION  AS  A  FORCE. 


139 


Imagination,  as  was  stated  in  the  Penetraua,  is  im¬ 
portant  as  an  interior  clairvoyant.  Its  practical  work¬ 
ings  and  benefits,  as  aids  to  intellectual  and  spiritual 
development,  are  scarcely  more  than  barely  recognized. 
Much  less  is  it  believed  to  be  the  fountain  which  feeds 
all  the  mental  powers.  Without  imagination  the  facul¬ 
ties  cannot  be  reached  and  developed  ;  while  with  it, 
as  an  active  educational  force,  the  whole  mind  may  bo 
made  to  blossom  and  to  bear  immortal  fruit. 

Old  schoolmasters  in  the  old  schoolhouses  adhere 
blindly,  or  with  opinionated  obstinacy,  to  the  old-time 
methods  as  presented  in  the  old  books  by  the  old  au¬ 
thors.  Often  the  conservative  utilitarian  teacher,  sus¬ 
tained  by  the  yet  more  unprogressive  commissioners 
and  ignorant  parents  in  his  district,  refuses  to  impart 
any  thing  beyond  the  dry  facts  of  “  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic.”  The  reading  of  each  pupil  in  such  a 
school  is  exasperatingly  monotonous — without  taste, 
without  grace,  without  ideality,  without  expression — 
because  the  method  of  teaching  is  without  the  en¬ 
kindling  force  and  grasp  of  imagination. 

Mental  and  spiritual  culture,  without  the  inspiring 
flame  of  the  imagination,  is  impossible.  As  well  at¬ 
tempt  to  run  machinery  without  lubricating  oil. 

Of  all  the  wonderful  genii — surpassing  any  mon¬ 
ster  you  ever  read  of  in  the  “  Arabian  Nights  ”  of  long 
forgotten  ages— the  modern  locomotive  is  the  most 


140 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS 


perfect.  But  it  was  first  perceived  by  the  imagina¬ 
tion.  It  came  up  out  of  the  vapors  within  the  en¬ 
chanted  chambers 
of  the  mind.  Then 
the  inventor  began 
to  describe  his  im¬ 
aginings  by  tongue 
and  pen ;  and  at 
last,  which  was 
surpassingly  best 
of  all,  he  embodied 
his  “  ideas  ”  in 
steel,  iron,  wood, 
and  brass.  And 
now  behold,  O  ye 
favorites  of  For¬ 
tune  !  behold, 
throughout  the  en¬ 
tire  prolific  belt 

A  MIGHTY  MACHINE  BORN  IN  IMAGINATION.  Qf  vibration,  the 

powerful  genii  which  the  first  man  evoked  from  the 
vapors  of  his  imagination  ! 

The  human  mind,  especially  when  youthful  and 
alive  to  Intuition,  is  a  wondrous  world  of  beauteous 
pictures.  It  is  a  complete  pantheon  of  divine  powers 
and  high  purposes ;  within  itself  a  gallery  of  God- 
painted  scenes,  beyond  the  language  of  the  tongue  to 


IMAGINATION  AS  A  FORCE. 


141 


portray.  Young  persons,  with  such  impressible  organ¬ 
izations,  quickly  acquire  a  reputation  for  “  story-tell¬ 
ing,”  which  is  twin-sister 
to  “falsehood;”  and 
strange  to  say,  both  are 
well-born,  being  first  cous¬ 
ins  to  mankind’s  sublime 
faculties  of  “  invention,” 
without  which  the  world 
could  make  no  positive 
advancement  in  science, 
mechanism,  and  art. 

Thus  you  comprehend 
that  the  human  spirit  is 
a  wonderful  compound  of  the  young  mind  is  a  kei-ositort 

OF  PICTURES. 

impersonal  principles — a 

fearful  arrangement  of  impressible  faculties — which 
incessantly  call  for  gratification,  and  for  the  most  wise 
dramatic  discipline. 

Pictures  within  the  mind — that  is,  the  inwrought 
possessions  of  the  imagination — call  for  pictures  adapt¬ 
ed  to  the  pleasure  of  the  senses.  Modern  educational 
literature  is  an  example  of  this  proposition.  Latest 
issues  of  school-books  teem  with  pictorial  illustrations 
of  positive  excellence  as  works  of  art.  Every  depart¬ 
ment  of  creation  is  brought  forth  and  minutely  de¬ 
scribed  in  words  and  pictures.  For  purposes  of  educa* 


142 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


tion  diagrams,  maps,  and  pictures  appeal  suggestively 
to  both  the  senses  and  the  imagination. 

Science  is  lifting  the  veil,  and  the  practical  mys¬ 
teries  of  Truth  are  rapidly  surplanting  the  bewildering 
fancies  of  supernaturalism.  No  creed-breaker  is  more 
ruthless,  no  iconoclast  is  more  heartless,  than  are  the 
chariots  [mowing  machines]  and  palaces  [iron  foun¬ 
dries  and  factories]  of  our  scientific  and  driving  era. 
Mournfully  it  has  been  said  that  44  there  is  nothing 
sacred  now.  The  last  holy  of  holies  has  been  invaded 
and  desecrated.  One  of  the  Pharaohs  is  a  mummy  in 
Barnum’s  Museum.  A  mountebank  travels  over 
Europe  with  a  little  tent  in  which  he  exhibits  for  four 
sous  ‘  a  piece  of  the  Holy  Cross.’  Where  the  genii  of 
the  4  Arabian  Nights’  Entertainment’  once  reigned 
supreme,  there  is  now  a  ten-cylinder  Hoe  press  print¬ 
ing  the  Koran  and  a  4  History  of  the  Caliphs.’  A 
news-boy  has  a  stand  near  the  ruins  of  the  Coliseum, 
and  old  ladies  peddle  peanuts  in  the  streets  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem.  A  factory  has  been  established  on  the  river  Jor¬ 
dan.  Recently  the  cable  informed  us  that  a  railroad 
track  is  being  laid  upon  the  classic  plains  of  Marathon, 
and  now  comes  the  startling  announcement  that  a  tele¬ 
graph  station  is  being  located  on  the  site  of  what  is 
supposed  to  have  been  the  original  4  Garden  of  Eden  !  ’  ” 

Pictorial  school-books  are  food  for  the  imagination 
through  the  senses.  Eight  millions  of  American  boys 


IMAGINATION  AS  A  FORCE. 


143 


and  girls  demand  an  annual  production  of  twenty  mil¬ 
lions  o/  books  and  primers.  The  great  publishing 
warehouses  are  stacked  with  food  for  the  vast  armies 
of  children.  From  floor  to  ceiling,  and  all  through  the 


BOYS  IMITATE  MEN  IN  BUILDING  TIIE  WALLS  OF  SOCIETY. 


great  length  of  the  stores,  you  behold  beautiful  caskets 
of  really  useful  knowledge.  Science  has  brought  in 
new  text-books  and  advanced  methods  of  instruction ; 
but  greater  improvements  and  higher  developments 
are  yet  to  come. 

From  Thorndale,  concerning  the  use  of  science, 
comes  wisdom  in  these  words  :  “  Some  poets,  in  their 
verses,  have  lamented  the  inroad  which  science  will 
occasionally  make  in  their  favorite  associations,  or  pre¬ 
dilections.  A  weak  lament.  Speaking  largely,  the 
more  we  know  of  nature,  the  more  beautiful  it  be¬ 
comes.  Who  has  not  felt  that  such  knowledge  as  he 


144 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


had  acquired  of  physiology  and  comparative  anatomy 
(remote  enough  at  first  from  sesthetics)  has  ended  by 
throwing  a  fresh  grace  over  every  limb,  a  fresh  charm 
over  every  movement  in  the  animal  creation  ?  As  to 
the  vegetable  world — as  to  our  trees — I  have  not  skill 
enough  in  language  to  describe  the  mystery  and  en¬ 
chantment  which  modern  science — whether  of  light, 
of  chemistry,  or  of  vital  growth — have  filled  them  with 


AN  ENTERING  WEDGE  IS  NECESSARY  IN  EVERY  NEW  QUESTION. 


for  me.  Their  leaves,  as  they  rustle,  seem  to  murmur 
of  the  half-told  secrets  of  all  creation.  And  take  this 
with  you  :  As  science  advances,  each  object,  without 
losing  its  individuality,  speaks  more  and  more  of  the 
whole;  and  this — because  each  living  thing  gets  some 
beauty  from  the  harmony  disclosed  in  its  own  struc¬ 
ture.” 


IMAGINATION  AS  A  FORCE. 


145 


The  true  educator  may  be  known  by  one  thing  : 
He  or  she  seeks  to  “  call  out  ”  the  mind’s  natural 
powers,  and  to  improve  and  harmonize  upon  its  con¬ 
stitutional  adaptations. 

A  true  reader  is  one  who  reads  with  the  eyes  of  the 
imagination.  Imagination  is  necessary  to  give  ideas 
their  true  meaning  and  emotions  their  true  expression. 
Tones  are  sounds  awakened  either  by  thoughts  or 
feelings ;  which  act  upon  memory  and  the  imagina¬ 
tion  ;  which,  in  their  turn,  act  upon  and  give  expres¬ 
sion  to  the  vocal  organs. 

On  this  dramatic  law  children  unconsciously  take 
on  the  feelings  and  perfectly  imitate  the  tones  of  voice 
they  day  by  day  associate  with  in  the  homestead.  “  I 
know  some  houses,”  says  one  writer,  “  well  built  and 
handsomely  furnished,  where  it  is  not  pleasant  to  be 
even  a  visitor.  Sharp ,  angry  tones  resound  through 
them  from  morning  till  night ,  and  the  influence  is  as 
contagious  as  the  measles,  and  much  more  to  be 
dreaded.  The  children  catch  it,  and  it  lasts  for  life. 
A  friend  had  such  a  neighbor  within  hearing  of  her 
house,  and  even  Poll  Parrot  has  caught  the  tune,  and 
delights  in  screaming  and  scolding,  until  she  has  been 
sent  into  the  country  to  improve  her  habits.  Children 
catch  cross  tones  quicker  than  parrots,  and  it  is  a  much 
more  expensive  habit.  Where  mother  sets  the  exam¬ 
ple,  you  will  scarcely  hear  a  pleasant  word  among  the 
10  G 


146 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


children  in  the  play  with  each  other.  Yet  the  disci¬ 
pline  of  such  a  family  is  weak  and  irregular.  The  chil¬ 
dren  expect  just  so  much  scolding  before  they  do  any 
thing  they  are  bidden,  while  in  many  a  home  where 
the  low,  firm  voice  of  the  mother,  or  a  decided  look  of 
her  eye  is  law,  they  never  think  of  disobedience,  either 
in  or  out  of  her  sight.  Oh,  mothers,  it  is  worth  a  great 
deal  to  cultivate  that  ‘  excellent  thing  in  woman,’  a 
low,  sweet  voice.  If  you  are  ever  so  much  tried  by 
the  mischievous  or  wilful  pranks  of  the  little  ones, 
speak  low.  It  will  be  a  great  help  to  you,  even  to  try 
and  be  patient  and  cheerful,  if  you  cannot  wholly  sue- 


“EVERY  WOMAN  BECOMES  A  MADONNA  BY  THE  CRADLE  OP  HER  FIRST¬ 
BORN  CHILD.” 


ceed.  Anger  makes  you  wretched,  and  your  children 
also.  Impatient,  angry  tones  never  did  the  heart 
good,  but  plenty  of  evil.  You  cannot  have  the  excuse 


IMAGINATION  AS  A  FORCE. 


147 


for  them  that  they  lighten  your  burdens,  for  they  only 
make  them  ten  times  heavier.  For  your  own,  as  well 
as  your  children’s  sake,  learn  to  speak  low.  They  will 
remember  that  one  tone  when  you  are  under  the 
willows.” 

Conceiving  ideas  and  making  them  a  part  of  you, 
putting  “  yourself  in  his  place,”  and  giving  correct 
expression  to  emotions,  are  effects  and  exercises  impos¬ 
sible  without  aid  from  the  imagination.  The  faculty 
of  imitation,  as  well  as  the  power  to  conceive  origin¬ 
ally,  is  substantially  one  and  the  same.  The  spiritual 
attributes  of  character,  in  both  old  and  young,  nat¬ 
urally  appear  in  actions  physical  and  dramatic. 

Memory  in  every  mind  is  furnished  with  dramatic 
dreams,  events,  and  situations.  Thus  Douglas  Jerrold 
exclaims  :  “  Blessed  be  the  hand  that  prepares  a  pleas¬ 
ure  for  a  child,  for  there  is  no  saying  when  and  where  it 
may  again  bloom  forth.  Does  not  almost  every  body 
remember  some  kind-hearted  man  who  showed  him  a 
kindness  in  the  dulcet  days  of  childhood  ?  The  writer 
of  this  recollects  himself  at  this  moment,  as  a  bare¬ 
footed  lad,  standing  at  the  wooden  fence  of  a  poor  little 
garden  in  his  native  village,  while  with  longing  eyes 
he  gazed  on  the  flowers  which  were  blooming  there 
quietly  in  the  brightness  of  a  Sunday  morning.  The 
possessor  came  forth  from  his  little  cottage  ;  lie  was 
n  wood-cutter  by  trade,  and  spent  the  whole  week  at 


148 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


his  work  in  the  woods.  He  had  come  into  the  garden 
to  gather  flowers  to  stick  into  his  coat  when  he  went 
to  church.  He  saw  the  boj,  and  breaking  off  one  of 
his  carnations — it  was  streaked  with  red  and  white — 
he  gave  it  to  him.  Neither  the  giver  nor  the  receiver 
spoke  a  word,  and  with  bounding  steps  the  boy  ran 
home.  And  now  here,  at  a  vast  distance  from  that 
home,  after  so  many  events  of  so  many  years,  the  feel¬ 
ing  of  gratitude  which  agitated  the  breast  of  that  boy 
expresses  itself  on  paper.  The  carnation  has  long 
since  withered,  but  now  it  blooms  afresh.” 


DREAM  OP  A  QUARRELSOME  LITTLE  BOY. 


Thus  life’s  events  gradually  assume  dramatic  com¬ 
binations  in  the  memory.  Dreams,  for  the  most  part, 
are  dramatic  (sometimes  tragical)  exercises  of  the  un¬ 
sleeping  imagination.  The  faculties  work  and  do  at 
night  what  they  think  and  fancy  in  the  daytime.  A 


IMAGINATION  AS  A  FORCE. 


149 


boy  dreamed  out  what  he  had  long  wanted  to  see  :  His 
favorite  dog  kill  three  troublesome  mice.  At  night 
the  whole  mind  is  at  liberty  to  picture,  upon  its  own 
memory  canvas,  the  forms  of  eyes  and  faces  and  fea¬ 
tures  before  unthought  of  and  unknown. 

Endlessly  diversified  are  the  activities  of  the  imagin¬ 
ation.  Attention  is  cultivated  and  disciplined  quickest 
by  training  the  mind  to  accurately  imagine  any  object 
or  scene.  You  cannot  truthfully  and  graphically  de¬ 
scribe  any  thing  in  language  or  by  pencil,  unless  you 
first  clearly  imagine  and  picture  to  yourself  its  shape, 
size,  color,  nature,  hab¬ 
its,  &c.  A  new  breed  of 
domestic  fowl,  for  exam¬ 
ple,  cannot  be  pictured 
by  you  to  a  friend  unless 
your  imagination  is  first 
fixed  upon  the  entire  cor¬ 
rect  appearance  of  the 
feathered  bipeds. 

This  perception  of  the 
form  is  the  picture  focalized  upon  your  memory.  If 
you  wmuld  imitate  accurately,  you  must  imagine  exact¬ 
ly.  This  rule  is  infallible.  If  you  fail  in  conception, 
you  wrill  certainly  faii  in  execution.  Bring  your  atten¬ 
tion  to  a  focus,  then  think  from  that  as  a  starting 
point,  from  which  you  make  a  new  departure;  and  the 


150 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


result  will  infallibly  reveal  where  you  need  develop¬ 
ment,,  and  where  repression  ;  in  order  to  symmetrically 
unfold  your  intellect,  and  to  bring  out  the  full  powers 
of  your  spirit. 

In  reading,  as  a  part  of  education,  the  tongue, 
which  should  be  governed  by  a  well-disciplined  imagin¬ 


ation,  gives  ex- 
pression  in 
tones  to  ideas 
and  feelings. 
But  why  should 
not  the  same 
discipline  b  e 
extended  to  the 
eye,  the  face, 
the  posture,  the 
attitude,  and 
the  gestures  ? 


STRUGGLING  FOR  A  NEW  DEPARTURE. 


How,  otherwise,  can  the  whole  body  and  mind  be 
harmoniously  cultured  and  disciplined  ?  Parts  of  the 
pupil’s  existence,  if  not  cultured,  will  remain  in  a  state 
of  unproductive  ignorance.  Those  uneducated  parts, 
even  if  they  do  not  produce  evils,  will  act  like  heavy 
manacles  in  after  life  upon  the  individual ;  than  which 
there  are  no  more  serious  material  embarrassments  to 
personal  happiness  and  success.  If  you  leave  a  young 
person’s  voice  uneducated,  or  his  hands  and  feet  with- 


IMAGINATION  AS  A  FORCE. 


151 


out.  training,  you  leave  him  with  grave  disqualifications 
for  a  successful  career. 

The  Progressive  Lyceum  System,  be  it  remembered, 
provides  for  the  dramatic  exercise  and  symmetrical 
culture  of  both  mind  and  body.  The  imagination  is 
appealed  to  as  a  great  educational  force.  Harmonious 
physical  movements  regulated  by  musical  sounds,  and 
various  disciplinary  amusements  at  stated  intervals, 
lend  enchantment  to  the  otherwise  unspeakably  tedious 
trials  of  acquiring  useful  knowledge.  Daily  drill  in 
an  unimaginative  method  of  training  the  young  mind 
— which  method  is  in  the  programme  of  every  impor¬ 
tant  educational  institution — is  certain,  in  effect,  to 
develop  an  extremely  useful ,  yet  crude  and  ill-man¬ 
nered,  population  within  the  bounds  of  civilization. 
By  such  method  mankind  are  enriched  in  the  imme¬ 
diately  practical,  but  impoverished  exceedingly  in 
every  ennobling  and  spiritualizing  manifestation. 

The  harmonial  plan  is,  I  trust,  by  this  time,  made 
sufficiently  apparent :  The  mind’s  native  powers  must 
be  called  out,  marshalled,  drilled,  and  strengthened  ; 
the  Will  must  be  taught  to  grasp  and  to  hold  ;  the 
attention  must  be  fired  with  the  intention  of  accuracy  ; 
the  faculties  of  Reason  must  be  plied  with  ideas  of 
largeness  and  proportion  ;  and  the  Imagination,  with¬ 
out  which  mind  can  achieve  nothing,  must  be  vivified 
with  truth  ;  in  brief,  our  whole  human  nature  must  be 


152 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


unfolded,  and  made  to  exemplify  divine  love  and  wis 
dom — in  their  most  beautiful,  as  well  as  in  their  most 
practical  forms,  adapted  to  the  present  world  and  its 
manifold  demands. 

But  in  this  treasure-grasping  age,  when  the  passion 
of  avarice  and  the  prince  of  extravagance  drive  up  the 
same  avenue  together,  all  my  words  concerning  living 
“  a  life  of  love  and  wisdom  ”  must  seem  superlatively 
imaginative.  Schemes  for  acquiring  property  would 
doubtless  attract  more  immediate  attention.  The  pop¬ 
ular  creed  consists  of  two  words  :  “  Material  Prosper¬ 
ity.”  Thus  thought  a  writer  who  offers  the  follow¬ 
ing  rules  for  becoming  a  millionaire  : 

1.  You  must  be  a  very  able  man,  as  nearly  all  mil¬ 
lionaires  are. 

2.  You  must  devote  your  life  to  the  getting  and 
keeping  of  other  men’s  earnings. 

3.  You  must  eat  the  bread  of  carefulness,  and  you 
must  rise  early  and  lie  down  late. 

4.  You  must  care  little  or  nothing  about  other 
men’s  wants,  or  sufferings,  or  disappointments. 

5.  You  must  not  mind  it,  that  your  wealth  involves 
many  others’  poverty. 

6.  You  must  not  go  meandering  about  Nature,  nor 
spending  your  time  enjoying  air,  earth,  sky,  and 
water  ;  for  there  is  no  money  in  it. 

7.  You  must  not  distract  your  thoughts  from  the 


IMAGINATION  AS  A  FORCE. 


153 


great  purpose  of  your  life  with  the  charms  of  art  and 
literature. 

8.  You  must  not  let  Philosophy  or  Religion  engross 
you  during  the  secular  time. 

9.  You  must  not  allow  your  wife  or  children  to 
occupy  much  of  your  valuable  time  or  thoughts. 

10.  You  must  never  permit  the  fascinations  of 
friendship  to  inveigle  you  into  making  loans,  however 
small. 

11.  You  must  abandon  all  other  ambitions,  or  pur¬ 
poses  ;  and  finally — 

12.  You  must  be  prepared  to  sacrifice  ease,  and  all 
fanciful  notions  you  may  have  about  tastes,  and  luxu¬ 
ries,  and  enjoyments,  during  most,  if  not  all,  of  your 
natural  life. 

The  foregoing  rules  (which  originally  appeared  in 
the  Galaxy),  illustrate  the  truth  of  the  ancient  pro¬ 
verb  :  “  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye 
of  a  needle,  than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the  kingdom 
of  God.” 


X. 


Prophetic  Dreams  and  Yisions  during  Sleep. 

STRANGE  to  saj,  almost  all  men,  even  metaphy¬ 
sicians,  are  deficient  in  real  knowledge  of  the 
sublime  possibilities  of  human  nature.  Knowledge, 
which  is  derived  through  the  senses,  is  limited  at  any 
one  time  by  the  manifested  degree  to  which  the  mental 
powers  have  attained  by  their  activity  and  prolifica- 
tions. 

It  is  impossible  that  an  ignorant,  narrow,  idle  mind 


PROPHETIC  DREAMS. 


155 


should  consecutively  think  any  wise  thoughts ;  and  it 
is  equally  impossible  that  such  a  mind  should,  during 
sleep,  dream  any  wise  and  comprehensive  and  signifi¬ 
cant  dreams. 

This  is  true  in  principle,  because  the  mind  conveys 
itself  bodily,  with  all  its  conditions  and  habits  of  think¬ 
ing  and  feeling,  into  each  and  every  state  of  which  it  is 
susceptible.  Thus,  whether  asleep  or  awake,  whether 
at  rest  or  in  self-conscious  action,  the  individual ,  with 
his  ruling  affections  and  intellectual  and  moral  charac¬ 
teristics,  is  irresistibly  and  unfailingly  present. 

You  cannot  part  company  with  yourself ;  no,  not 
even  by  the  wicked  folly  of  “  suicide.” 

Spiritually  minded  persons,  therefore,  unless  labor¬ 
ing  under  physical  derangements,  are  most  likely  to 
dream  concerning  spiritual  and  beautiful  things. 

The  latent  capabilities  of  such  a  mind  may  become 
suddenly  illuminated.  The  mysterious  panorama  of 
circumstances,  as  it  is  with  wonderful  velocity  unrolled 
within  the  transphysical  realm,  “  cast  their  shadows” 
among  the  thoughts  of  the  impressible  dreamer.  In 
spite  of  ordinary  rules  of  reasoning  the  mind  of  such 
a  dreamer  is  profoundly  affected. 

Rev.  John  Hall,  in  an  article  to  the  New  York 
Observer,  gives  a  striking  illustration  of  premonitory 
dreaming:  “Sometimes  depression  is  the  witness  with¬ 
in  one’s  self  of  actual,  impending  trouble  and  sorrow, 


156 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


sometimes  coming  we  know  not  Low,  sometimes  a 
prophecy  that  fulfils  itself.  One  notable  case  of  this 
kind  may  be  mentioned.  Twenty  years  ago,  the  late 
Alexander  Stewart,  a  Free  Church  minister,  was  called 
to  the  most  influential  charge  in  Edinburgh,  and  all 
the  church  said,  Go.  Only  his  own  feeling  was  against 
it.  Modest,  gentle,  and  loving  retirement,  he  shrank 
back  from  it.  Yet  he  dare  not  please  himself.  Will  I 
not  be  more  useful  in  Edinburgh,  though  I  lived  only 
three  months,  than  if  1  remained  in  Cromarty  three 
years,  indulging  my  own  ease  and  feelings  while  God 
forsook  me,  because  I  forsook  both  Him  and  the  path 
of  duty  ?  But  lie  felt  he  was  not  to  live  there.  Af¬ 
ter  his  Presbytery  had  released  him,  Dr.  Buchanan 
accompanied  him  home,  and,  noticing  his  depression 
as  he  walked  along  the  street,  he  said  to  Mr.  Stewart, 
‘  You  look  as  if  you  were  carrying  a  mountain  on  your 
back.’  ‘  Ho,  Dr.  Buchanan,’  was  the  reply,  ‘  I  am 
carrying  my  gravestone  on  my  back.’  And  he  never 
entered  on  the  new  charge,  dying  of  fever  before  his 
settlement.” 

Dreaming  prophetically  is  not  a  common  expe¬ 
rience  ;  because  the  prophetic  gift  is  rare. 

A  mind  accustomed  to  thinking  consecutively  and 
habitually  in  an  orderly  manner,  is  best  qualified  to 
catch  and  retain  the  regular  logical  succession  of  night¬ 
time  impressions.  But  an  unbalanced  thinking  and 


PROPHETIC  DREAMS. 


157 


PROPHETIC  VISIONS  IN  THE  STILLNESS  OF 
NIGHT. 


dream-brain,  like  that  of  the  abnormally-minded  De 
Quincy,  while  he  was  under  the  diabolical  influence 
of  opium,  sees  objects 
absurdly  enlarged,  or 
magically  dwarfed, 
and  grotesquely  situ¬ 
ated.  The  thrilling 
realities  of  pleasure 
and  pain,  and  the  in¬ 
definite  number  of 
experiences  natural  to 
a  succession  of  months 
and  years,  are  some¬ 
times  pressed  upon 

one’s  susceptibilities  between  the  setting  and  the  rising 
of  the  sun.  But  the  next  day’s  labors,  cares,  and  sensa¬ 
tions — save  in  the  most  essential  repositories  of  the 
spirit — drive  such  dreams  into  the  realms  of  forgetful¬ 
ness.  Only  apparently  so,  however ;  for,  among  the 
faculties,  a  memory,  a  dream,  of  it  all  remains.  And 
hence  it  is  that  in  the  tranquil  hours  of  future  dream¬ 
ing,  which  is  a  dramatic  form  of  recollecting,  whether 
by  night  or  by  day,  vague  reminiscences  of  personal 
experiences  in  dreamily  remote  times,  as  of  some  pre¬ 
existent  life  in  long-forgotten  ages,  rise  up  mysteriously 
in  the  recesses  of  the  private  consciousness.  Some 
minds  are  so  peculiarly  constituted  as  to  experience 


158 


JETS  or  NEW  MEANINGS 


at  night  a  kind  of  involuntary  periodical  introversion 
of  the  thinking  faculties  ;  at  which  times  they  seem  to 
themselves  to  hold  confidential  interviews,  to  make 
voyages  to  remote  countries,  to  live  and  act  in  strange 
scenes,  and  to  perform  remarkable  mental  feats,  quite 
at  variance  with  their  every-day  thoughts  and  volun¬ 
tary  inclinations. 

The  only  1’ational  explanation  is  to  be  found  in  the 
peculiar  constitution  and  processes  of  such  minds ;  it 
is  all  attributable  to  an  overmastering  proneness  of  the 
faculties  in  such  persons  to  act  and  play  lawlessly  upon 


“  O,  BACKWARD  LOOKING  SON  OP  TIME.” 


and  among  themselves.  Inward  realities,  to  such  self- 
entertaining  and  unregulated  minds,  are  nothing  but 
the  evanescent  memories  of  the  shadows  of  events  in 
their  own  self  conscious  kingdom. 


PROPHETIC  DREAMS. 


159 


Prophecy,  or  rather  the  love  of  foreseeing  events, 
or  of  having  “  a  fortune  told,”  is  almost  a  passion  with 
minds  so  constituted.  And  yet  but  little  reliance  can 
be  placed  upon  the  imaginary  predictions  of  these 
periodical  iutroversionists.  It  is,  in  fact,  fortunate 
that,  notwithstanding  his  two  fold  life,  with  both  sides 
ooen  to  both  worlds,  man  can  only  properly  and  hap¬ 
pily  enjoy  the  phenomena  and  current  realities  of  but 
one  world  at  a  time. 

Nevertheless  man’s  spiritual  altitude  is  such — being 
externally  related  to  the  world  of  effects,  and  interiorly 
consociated  most  intimately  with  the  universe  of  causes 
— he  can,  in  certain  exalted  and  superior  moments, 
discern  what  is  possible,  even  probable,  yea,  certain  ; 
were  it  not  for  the  unfathomable  ocean  of  ebbing  and 
flowing  contingencies  which  perpetually  mingle  with 
and  modify  the  superficial  manifestations  of  undeviat¬ 
ing  principles.  But  for  this  limitation — this  inability 
to  foresee  all  the  processes  involved,  this  defective 
vision  of  all  the  shadows  of  changes  possible  in  the  line 
of  the  event  which  is  coming  so  rapidly  on  the  bosom 
of  fixed  laws — but  for  this,  and  it  is  a  mighty  impedi¬ 
ment  between  the  human  spirit  and  the  exercise  of 
omniscience,  man  could  foretell  and  comprehend  the 
occurrences  of  the  future  like  one  of  the  gods.  “If  I 
dream  one  way,”  said  a  learned  doctor,  “  and  you 
dream  another  way,  which  of  them  am  I  to  follow  ? 


160 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


Some  are  inclined  to  believe  their  own  dreams.  But 
few  are  inclined  to  believe  the  dreams  of  their  neigh¬ 
bors.  And  so  in  the  end  every  one  will  be  found  to 
take  the  way  in  which  his  whim,  or  his  impulse,  or  his 
fancy  leads  him.” 

In  all  cases  of  prophecy,  yet  known,  there  have 
been  obvious  mistakes  as  to  time,  or  place,  or  manner, 
or  accompanying  events ;  all  which  was  owing  to  the 
lack  of  perception  of  all  the  many  and  various  effects 
which  incidentally  cropped  out  of  the  ocean  of  causes 
and  principles.  Most  exalted  residents  of  the  Sum- 
merland,  like  our  own  astronomers  and  mathemati¬ 
cians,  cognize  the  causes  and  laws  which  will  inevitably 
develop  certain  uatural  effects. 

What  marvellous  clearness  of  perception  is  de¬ 
manded !  What  philosophical  accuracy  of  judgment 
must  be  exercised  ! 

But,  alas  !  how  unspeakably  difficult  for  any  citizen 
of  the  skies  to  impress  with  accuracy  the  whole  mind 
of  any  one  person  on  earth.  The  unexpected  and  rude 
intervention  of  human  acts,  the  sudden  snapping  of 
some  one  of  the  many  intricate  threads  in  the  web-work 
of  life,  the  unavoidable  complications  arising  from  the 
intercepting  forces  within  the  mind  of  the  medium  who 
might  receive  the  impressions — think  of  all  these  inter¬ 
polations  and  uncontrollable  interruptions  incessantly 
occurring  along  the  far-extending  lines  of  prophecy, 


PROPHET I 6  DREAMS. 


161 


and  you  will  be  convinced  that  it  is  excessively  diffi¬ 
cult,  although  not  absolutely  impossible,  for  any  one 
terrestrial  mind  to  foretell  with  unfailing  certainty 
every  event  which  may  happen  in  the  career  of  a  per¬ 
son  or  nation. 

Thus  human  nature  is  forever  surprising  itself,  being 
limited  at  all  times  in  the  exercise  of  intellectual  and 
spiritual  endowments ;  and  thus  humanity  is  forever 
progressing  and  unfolding  “  something  new.”  George 
Washington  did  not  discern  the  immense  possibilities 
of  the  vast  civilized  America  in  which  we  live  to-day  ; 
neither  did  the  profound  Benjamin  Franklin  in  any 
degree  foresee  the  wonders  of  the  electrical  telegraph  ; 
nor  did  any  of  the  ancient  prophets  forecast  the  mar¬ 
vels  of  spiritual  intercourse  which  crown  the  religious 
developments  of  these  days ;  because  from  each  of 
them,  as  from  each  of  us,  is  wisely  denied  the  om¬ 
niscient  faculty  of  knowing  the  end  from  the  begin¬ 
ning. 


11 


XI. 

False  and  Tkue  Worship. 

mRUE  worship  is  an  involuntary  act  of  the  inmost 
i  affections. 

Will  and  the  understanding  can  determine  and 
regulate  the  act,  but  they  cannot  originate  and  inspire 
the  feeling,  which  rises  unbidden  from  the  bosom 
toward  the  supreme  attraction. 

False  worship,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  necessarily 
hypocritical.  It  is  false  in  the  sense  of  being,  instead 
of  from  the  affections,  a  result  of  religious  teachings  ; 
in  which  the  real  feelings  and  the  real  sentiments  of 
the  worshipper  may  take  no  honest  interest. 

Worship  of  the  supreme  Spirit  of  the  Universe  is 
possible  only  to  those  who  feel,  and  are,  therefore, 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  WORSHIP. 


163 


powerfully  attracted  toward  the  sacred  essence  of  the 
infinite  Love.  Any  feeling  less  profound,  any  attrac¬ 
tion  less  essential,  is  certain  to  worship  a  lesser  God 
and  in  an  inferior  manner.  And  inasmuch  as  the 
masses,  among  the  most  enlightened,  are  inspired  with 
no  such  spirituality  of  feeling,  they  will  not  rise  supe¬ 
rior  to  religious  materialism. 

Pagan  monuments  and  other  ethnological  relics 
give  evidence  of  mankind’s  childhood  in  religion. 
Jove  fills  with  awe  and  adoration  the  heart  of  the 
young  worshipper.  The  Druids,  the  Syrians,  and  the 
Persians  worship  sincerely,  yet  how  antagonistically  ! 
They  did  not,  any  more  than  do  people  about  us  called 
Christians,  exemplify  in  'practice  that  religion,  pure 
and  undefiled  before  God  and  the  Father,  which  is  : 
“  To  visit  the  widows  and  the  fatherless  in  their  afflic¬ 
tion,  and  to  keep  unspotted  from  the  world.” 

False  worship  in  religion  is  an  attractively  artistic, 
as  well  as  an  exquisitely  artful,  exercise  in  fashionable 
avenue  churches  on  the  Sabbath.  The  foundation  of 
religion  is  believed  by  many  to  be  the  “  sacred  vol¬ 
ume  ;  ”  by  such  minds  the  real  works  of  God,  the  uni¬ 
verse  and  the  starry  skies,  are  overlooked  as  of  little 
moment.  In  a  little  work  published  in  New  York, 
1869,  entitled  the  ‘‘Worship  of  the  Body,  compiled 
from  the  Anglican  Authorities,  and  adapted  to  use  in 
the  American  Church,”  we  find  that  both  the  artistic 


164 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


and  artful  rules  for  worshipping  are,  in  the  most  solemn 
language,  as  follows : 


OBJECT-WORSHIP  IN  AMERICA. 

“  If  you  should  by  any  chance  have  to  enter  or 
leave  Church,  or  to  pass  before  the  Altar  after  the 
Prayer  of  Consecration ,  then  you  should  ‘  genuflect  ’ 
( i .  e.,  kneel  upon  one  knee)  in  adoration  of  Him  Who 
veiled  His  Godhead  under  the  mean  form  of  a  little 
Infant  when  the  wise  men  knelt  and  worshipped  Him, 
and  Who  now  veils  both  His  Godhead  and  Manhood 
under  the  mean  and  common  forms  of  bread  and  wine 
in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Holy  Eucharist. 

“  In  making  your  reverence  let  it  be  always  towards 
the  Altar  (i.  e facing  it).  Your  obeisance  should  be 
an  inclination  of  the  body,  and  not  of  the  head  only. 
If  made  as  you  pass  the  Altar  (whether  you  are  so  do- 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  WORSHIP. 


165 


ing  in  the  Chancel  or  Nave)  pause  a  moment,  face  it, 
and  bend  in  devout  consciousness  of  the  act.  The 
first  rule  then  is,  whenever  you  enter  a  Church,  bow 
towards  the  Altar  on  passing  it,  and  also  before  enter¬ 
ing  or  on  leaving  your  pew.  Should  the  Blessed 
Sacrament  be  upon  the  Altar  at  the  time,  genuflect. 

“  Should  you  during  Service  or  at  any  other  time 
have  occasion  to  approach  the  Altar,  make  your  reve¬ 
rence  at  the  point  you  reach  nearest  to  it,  and  before 
doing  any  other  act  for  which  you  have  so  approached; 
the  act  completed,  again  bow  and  retire.” 

These  empirical  rules,  for  worshipping  the  Al¬ 
mighty  acceptably,  are  obeyed  in  the  Metropolis  of 
America ;  at  the  present  moment,  and  as  religiously, 
too,  as  not  more  formal  nor  more  false  rules  are  this 
hour  obeyed  in  India,  in  China,  or  in  Japan.  Again, 
the  same  evangelical  instruction-book  says  : 

“  You  should  bowr  at  the  Name  of  Jesus  whenever 
it  occurs  in  the  course  of  Divine  Service, — whether  you 
are  kneeling,  standing,  or  sitting, — in  devout  adoration 
of  that  Name,  at  which,  as  St.  Paul  says,  ‘  every  knee 
shall  bow,  of  things  in  Heaven,  and  things  on  Earth 
also  at  the  first  verse  of  each  Gloria  Patri ,  in  wor¬ 
ship  of  the  Holy  Trinity  to  Whom  glory  is  therein 
ascribed.  .  .  .  Unless  prevented  by  ill-health  or  bodi¬ 
ly  infirmity,  you  should  be  most  careful  to  obey  the 
Church's  injunctions,  as  set  forth  in  her  rubrics,  as  to 


166 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


kneeling,  standing  and  the  like.  Kneeling  is  the  ap¬ 
pointed  attitude  of  prayer,  stand¬ 
ing  of  praise,  sitting  of  instruc¬ 
tion  :  therefore  the  Church  di¬ 
rects  us  to  kneel  when  praying 
to  Almighty  God,  to  stand  when 
singing  His  praises,  and  to  sit 
when  listening  to  the  lessons  or 

A  TEN-POWEE  GOD. 

sermon.” 


EVERYBODY’S  GOD. 


In  Pagan  countries,  or, 
more  properly,  in  countries 
more  pagan  than  ours,  the 
religious  ceremonials  are 
outwardly  more  crude  and, 
therefore,  less  intellectual ; 
but  no  one  can  with  truth 
affirm  that  worship  there 
is  less  sincere  than  in  the 
popular  institutions  of  our  coun¬ 
try.  In  America  there  is  an  un¬ 
counted  host  engaged  in  wor¬ 
shipping  both  day  and  night  the 
herein  illustrated  almighty  trin¬ 
ity  :  Copper !  Silver ! !  Gold  ! ! ! 

The  final  doom  of  the  devo¬ 
tee  of  Mammon  is  nothing  less 
than  to  die  miserably  with  a  gold-fever !  Or,  which  is 


A  yB  ACTION  AX.  GOD 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  WORSHIP.  If,? 

not  less  to  be  dreaded  and  avoided,  be  may  die  with 
a  softening  of  the  brain  ;  accompa¬ 
nied  with  a  hardening  of  the  heart, 
preceded  by  breaking  of  the  spir¬ 
itual  ligaments,  and  the  overthrow 
of  all  ties  connecting  his  affec¬ 
tions  with  the  Good,  the  True,  and 
the  Beautiful. 

Little  children  are  most  sincere 
in  worshipping  objects.  They  are 
true  idolators.  All  mothers  know  RICH  “gold-fever™  thb 

Fold  to  thy  heart  thy  child, 
darling  mother !  Time  will 
quickly  enough  change  the 
manifestations  of  the  young 
affections.  Another  law  of  the 
interior  life,  more  imperative 
in  its  commandments  upon  the 
heart  than  the  filial,  will  in  after  years  influence  your 
son  to  bow  in  adoration  before  another  shrine.  It  is 
true,  and  beautiful  as  true,  that  a  child’s  love  for  the 
parental  source  does  not  die ;  but,  at  the  right  time, 
another  love  becomes  more  active  and  influential. 
Being  born  with  organic  attractions,  inheriting  bone 
of  your  bone  and  blood  of  your  blood,  does  not  control 
character  or  determine  destiny.  It  is  true  that  the 


this  truth  by  heart. 


A  SINCERE  WORSHIPPER. 


168 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


mother’s  offerings  of  affection  may  live  and  act  within 
the  child’s  immortal  spirit ;  but  it  is  likewise  true  that, 
'n  accordance  with  the  Divine 
decree,  the  processes,  refinements, 
conjugations,  and  prolifications 
of  the  universe  must  go  un¬ 
changeably  forward.  Therefore, 
deeper  and  more  controlling  than 
any  physiological  tie,  stronger 
than  any  inheritance  of  parentage 
or  country,  is  that  sovereign  Con¬ 
jugal  principle  which  attracts  to¬ 
gether  two  human  hearts,  and 
weds  and  melts  and  moulds  them 
into  one — thus  beautifully  har- 
monizing  exactly  opposite  sides 
of  the  universe,  with  dissimilari¬ 
ties  and  varieties  too  delicate  for  analysis  and  too 
impalpable  for  classification. 

In  order  to  successfully  propagate  the  Christian 
religion,  the  policy  and  jesuitical  trickery  of  being 
“  all  things  to  all  men  ”  is  recommended  for  use  by  a 
popular  minister,  thus:  “When  the  Lord  sent  out 
His  apostles  He  gave  them  what  was  in  modern  lan¬ 
guage  a  charge,  when  sending  them  out  as  sheep  in 
the  midst  of  wolves — they  were  to  be  wise  as  serpents 
and  harmless  as  doves.  We  might  think  that  the  Mas- 


TRUE  A  X  D  FALSE  WORSHIP. 


1G9 


ter  lived  without  prudence  and  tact,  particularly  in  its 
use  toward  men.  But  from  a  human  side  the  prudence 
of  the  Lord  was  remarkable.  He  left  Jerusalem  be- 


A  DEER-KEEPER  WORSHIPPING  A  DEAR. 


cause  He  knew  the  Pharisees  would  kill  Him,  and 
stayed  away  until  the  prophecy  was  to  be  fulfilled  ; 
but  He  had  foresight  and  nice  judgment  of  men,  and  it 
is  shown  by  His  charge  to  the  disciples.  In  ancient 
times  the  serpent  was  the  emblem  of  sagacity  and  wis¬ 
dom,  and  in  that  way  it  was  used  by  Christ.  They 
were  to  be  shrewdly,  closely  wise;  to  think,  judge, 
and  administer  the  truth  ;  they  were  not  at  liberty 
only  to  speak  the  truth,  but  to  be  circumspect  at  times, 
even  to  be  silent,  or  to  tell  only  a  part  of  the  truth. 
Men  might  have  an  impression  that  this  was  worldly 


170 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


polity,  but  it  does  not  change  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  a  man  to  employ  all  his  foresight  in  the  cause 
of  Christ,  and  adapt  himself  to  circumstances.  But 
no  man  may  use  the  weaknesses  of  his  neighbor  for  his 
own  selfish  good  ;  but  if  you  can  use  them  to  make 
him  better,  more  virtuous,  or  moi’e  Christian,  do  it. 
The  true  way  is  to  he  all  things  to  all  men ,  if  by  so 
doing  some  may  he  saved.  A  Christian  is  clipper-built 
and  glides  along  smoothly,  but  the  blusterer  has  broad 
bows  and  makes  a  great  fuss  in  the  waters.  To  the 
Jews  Paul  was  a  Jew,  to  the  Gentiles  he  was  a  Gen¬ 
tile.  Rampant  frankness  had  no  discrimination  and 
did  no  good,  but  the  men  who  did  the  church  most 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  ART  OF  BEING  “  ALL  THING9  TO  ALL  MEN.” 


service  as  administrators  and  organizers  have  been  wise 
as  serpents.  But  they  must  be  also  harmless  as  doves, 
and  make  that  impression  upon  outside  men.” 


TRUE  A  X  D  FALSE  WORSHIP. 


171 


Such  language,  notwithstanding  its  evident  sin¬ 
cerity,  is  the  language  of  one  who  prays  for  the  success 
of  a  particular  creed  or  system  of  religion.  Not  such 
policy  deterred  nor  governed  the  good  Charming.  lie 
said  :  “  The  very  religion  which  was  adapted  to  exalt 
human  nature,  Las  been  used  to  make  it  abject.  The 
very  religion  which  was  given  to  create  a  generous 
hope,  has  been  made  an  instrument  of  servile  and  tor¬ 
turing  fear.  The  very  religion  which  came  from  God’s 
goodness  to  enlarge  the  soul  with  a  kindred  goodness, 
has  been  employed  to  narrow  it  to  a  sect,  to  rear  the 
Inquisition,  and  to  kindle  fires  for  the  martyr.  The 
very  religion  given  to  make  the  understanding  and 
conscience  free,  has,  by  a  criminal  proversion,  sent  to 
break  them  into  subjection  to  priests,  ministers,  and 
human  creeds.  Ambition  and  craft  have  seized  on  the 
solemn  doctrines  of  an  omnipotent  God,  and  of  future 
punishment,  and  turned  them  into  engines  against  the 
child,  the  trembling  female,  the  ignorant  adult,  until 
the  skeptic  has  been  emboldened  to  charge  on  religion, 
the  chief  miseries  and  degradation  of  human  nature.” 

The  first  minister  quoted,  said  :  “  If  you  can  use 
the  weaknesses  of  the  neighbor  to  make  him  more 
Christian,  do  it.”  On  the  other  hand,  the  second  min¬ 
ister  boldly  denounces  “  wise  as  serpents  ”  doctrine, 
with  its  correlation  of  “  all  things  to  all  men,”  as  a 
criminal  attempt  to  “  subject  man  to  priests  and  hu- 


172 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


man  creeds.”  With  clearer  and  worthier  vision  a  wise, 
womanly  writer  said  :  “  Religion  is  the  true,  the  only 
reformatory  power.  She  sometimes  wears  one  gar¬ 
ment,  sometimes  another — the  crown  of  art,  the  veil 
of  philosophy,  the  hard  and  shining  armor  of  the  law. 
All  of  these  by  turns  disguise  her,  and  when  these 
various  forms  effect  any  thing,  we  find  that  religion 
was  at  the  bottom  of  what  was  done.  Our  applications 
of  religion  are  often  defective,  often  at  fault.  Men 
build  stone  cathedrals  in  place  of  living  temples,  and 
invent  stony  creeds  in  place  of  discovering  vital  doc¬ 
trines.  In  view  of  this  I  would  repeat  one  of  the 
prayers  familiar  to  my  youth.  I  was  taught  long  be¬ 
fore  I  knew  any  thing  of  spiritual  or  other  anatomy, 
to  pray  that  God  would  take  away  my  heart  of  stone 
and  give  me  a  heart  of  flesh.  So  now  I  will  pray  that 
God  would  take  away  our  church  of  stone  and  give  us 
a  church  of  flesh,  with  the  living  blood  of  the  body 
politic  circulating  through  it.” 

Throughout  Christendom,  especially  in  Catholic 
countries,  “  the  cross  ”  is  reverently  regarded  by  au¬ 
thority.  By  many  religionists  it  is  well-nigh  wor¬ 
shipped.  Within  the  sacred  temples  of  monastic  days, 
as  well  as  within  the  groves  and  along  the  rivers  of 
the  classic  lands,  the  crucifix  is  lifted  and  kissed  as  the 
symbol  of  an  infinite  God’s  own  personal  sufferings 
and  tragical  local  sacrifices  for  the  inhabitants  of  this 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  WORSHIP.  173 


little  seventh-rate  globe.  “  The  custom  of  making  the 
Sign  of  the  Cross,”  says  the  authority  quoted,  “  is  as 
old  as  Christianity  it¬ 
self,  and  is  mentioned 
by  the  earliest  writers. 

It  is  done  by  touching 
first  the  forehead  and 
then  the  breast  with 
the  fingers  of  the  right 
hand,  and  then  in  a 
similar  way  making  a 
line  across  the  breast 
from  left  to  right.  You 
should  at  least  practice 
this  venerable  custom 
1 before  and  after  engag¬ 
ing  in  public  and  pri¬ 
vate  prayer,  at  the 

Same  time  invoking  THE  CHRISTIAN’S  emblem. 

the  Holy  Trinity,  say¬ 
ing  ‘  In  the  name  of  the  Father  ’  as  you  touch  the 
forehead,  because  the  Father  is  head  of  all  things ; 
‘  and  of  the  Son  ’  as  you  touch  your  breast,  because 
the  Son  was  begotten  of  the  father  ;  ‘  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  ’  as  you  draw  the  line  from  left  to  right  across 
the  breast,  because  the  Holy  Ghost  is  co-equal  with 
the  Father  and  the  Son.  Thus  the  Sign  of  the  Cross 


174 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


is  not  only  a  token  that  you  begin  and  end  your  ser¬ 
vice  trusting  in  the  merits  of  your  crucified  Lord,  but 
it  is  also  a  beautiful  symbol  of  your  faith  in 


the  Blessed  Trinity.” 

In  the  sight  of  other  eyes,  from  which  B 


look  minds  and  hearts  belonging  to  the  pro- 
gressive  school  of  faith  and  works,  “  the  AN  IDOL' 
Cross  ”  is  nothing  more  than  a  relic  of  an  ancient  semi- 
civilized  method  of  publicly  and  ignominiously  execut¬ 
ing  persons  convicted  of  capital  crimes.  “  During  the 
middle  ages,”  says  a  candid  writer,  “  a  famous  instru¬ 
ment  of  death,  called  the  Maiden,  was  in  use.  It  was 
the  figure  of  a  beautiful  virgin  placed  in  the  niche  of  a 
prison-cell  to  represent  the  adorable  Madonna.  The 
prisoner,  exhausted  by  fasting  and  torture,  and  turned 
into  this  cell,  falls  in  supplication  before  this  image, 
which  is  contrived  to  open  its  arms,  as  if  to  invite  his 
bewildered  fancy  to  a  protecting  embrace.  He  rushes 
into  the  trap  ;  the  arms  close,  and  a  thousand  knife- 
blades  kiss  his  life  away.  Such  is  the  religion  of  every 
kind  of  oppression.” 

With  this  diabolical  virgin-punishment  we  are,  by 
the  imperative  promptings  of  both  truth  and  humanity, 
compelled  to  classify  every  ancient  and  modern  plan 
for  inflicting  suffering  and  mortification.  Therefore 
the  rack,  the  gibbet,  the  wheel,  the  guillotine,  the  gal¬ 
lows,  and  “  the  cross,”  we  classify  and  impale  together 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  WORSHIP. 


175 


as  so  many  monstrous  human  inventions  for  overcom¬ 
ing  and  punishing  evil  with  evil.  Not  one  of  these 
inventions  merits  the  least  exaltation  ;  for  each  alike  is 
nothing  but  an  emblem  of  man’s  ignorance,  retaliation, 
and  cruelty.  The  sign  of  the  modern  gallows,  and  not 
the  sign  of  the  ancient  cross,  should  be  made  by  every 
devout  American.  Harmonialists  accept  as  worthy  of 
perpetuation  none  of  these  old-time  inventions  ;  and 
yet,  as  F.  L.  H.  Willis,  in  a  moment  of  inspiration, 
said — 


“We  can  look  on  scenes  of  glory 
That  no  artist  can  reveal ; 

Though  no  saints  are  in  our  niches, 
Carved  from  blocks  of  faultless  stone, 
Yet  we  know  that  saints  are  with  us 
Helping  all  our  labors  on. 

All  the  pomp,  and  pride,  and  fashion, 
Priests  once  gave  to  church  and  fane ; 
But  we  give  to  saints  immortal 
Wealth  that  loving  hearts  contain. 
They  once  thought  to  enter  heaven 
By  the  wafer  and  the  wine, 

But  we  seek  the  living  water, 

And  we  ask  for  bread  divine. 

Holy  spirits  !  ye  who  usher 
In  the  day  of  truth  and  love, 

Bring  us  gifts  from  off  the  altars 
Of  your  own  blest  spheres  above. 

Then  we’ll  feel  the  fire  of  heaven 
Kindling  in  our  waiting  hearts, 


176 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS 


And  we’ll  know  our  God  is  with  us 
By  the  life  its  warmth  imparts ; 
And  as  true  and  loving  brothers 
We  will  wage  a  noble  strife — 
Daily  met  in  one  great  temple 
Of  a  true  harmonious  life, 

’Mid  whose  high  and  fretted  arches 
We  may  hear  the  angels  sing, 

To  whose  fair  and  unstained  altars 
We  may  every  purpose  bring. 
Thus  the  temple  shall  be  builded. 
Reaching  to  the  heavens  above  : 
Consecrate  to  God  the  Father, 
Because  built  of  human  love.” 


Impressed  with  the  beantv  and  mystery  of  the 
Wheel,  the  ancients  erected  it  into  an  object  of  wor¬ 
ship.  Ethnological  researches,  bringing  to  light  the 
devices  and  designs  of  diverse  kinds  of  art,  architect¬ 
ure,  and  religion,  disclose  the  most  popular  forms  and 
objects  of  primeval  worship.  Wheel-worshippers  be¬ 
gan  with  the  figure  of  the  Circle ;  and  the  serpent, 
with  its  imagined  death-dealing,  healing,  and  life-giv¬ 
ing  qualities,  was  the  accepted  symbol.  The  prophet 
Ezekiel  frequently  refers  to  the  wheel,  with  indefinite 
intimations  of  its  profound  mysteries.  For  myself, 
since  perceiving  the  eternal  elements  enfolded  by  the 
ellipse  as  a  mathematical  figure,  I  could  bow  to  “  the 
circle”  as  reverently  and  as  sincerely  as  Christians 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  WORSHIP. 


177 


uncover  before  “  the  cross,”  making  its  sign  with  a 
prayer  for  recognition  and  protection.  The  pre-empted 
proprietors  of  the  “  Garden  of  Eden  ”  unjustly  claim 
to  have  originated  the  Wheel-and-Serpent  religion. 
Whether  Adam  introduced  the  Tree-worship  and  Eve 
the  Serpent-worship ,  or  the  reverse,  is  as  yet  unhap¬ 
pily  an  open  question.  The  truth  is  that,  except  the 
empire  of  China,  the  serpent-wheel  religion  has  had 
devotees  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Until  the  reign  of 
Hezekiah,  the  image  of  the  serpent  was  worshipped  by 
certain  tribes  of  Jews,  during  more  than  six  hundred 
years  ;  because  they,  in  common  with  many  sects  of 
Asia  and  the  East,  supposed  the  serpent  to  be  in  some 
mysterious  manner  a  representation  of  both  the  crea¬ 
tive  and  the  destroying  deities.  Of  course,  the  most 
ignorant  believers  worshipped  the  Serpent  itself ,  instead 
of  the  particular  deity  which  it  was  originally  designed 
to  conspicuously  represent;  just  as,  in  our  more  en¬ 
lightened  day,  the  most  ignorant  among  Christians 
revere  and  worship  the  cross,  the  church ,  the  Bible, 
and  other  images,  instead  of  the  life  that  led  to  the 
Martyrdom,  the  Truth,  the  Spirit,  and  Nature,  which 
are  the  only  real  realities  worthy  of  all  adoration  and 
obedience. 

Sincere  and  true  worship  may  be  outward  and  ob¬ 
jective,  or  interior  and  subjective;  but  invariably  the 

act  is  in  accordance  with  the  real  moral  and  intellect- 
12  H2 


178 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


ual  growth  of  the  worshipper.  False  worship,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  in  accordance  with  the  individual’s 
religious  instructions,  social  temptations,  and  govern¬ 
ing  circumstances.  The  kind-hearted  lover  of  the 
noble  horse  is  sincerely  filled  with  admiration  (possibly 
with  emotions  amounting  to  adora¬ 
tion),  for  the  majestic  and  full-blood¬ 
ed  beauty.  While  the  purely  intel- 
lectualist,  the  man  devoted  to  the  won¬ 
ders  of  antiquity,  of  research  in  sci¬ 
ence,  glorying  over  and  feasting  upon 
the  great  wealth  of  literature — such  a 
man  is  a  devotee  at  the  shrine  of  Ge¬ 
nius — and  boohs ,  instead  of  running 
brooks,  are  his  supreme  and  all-ab¬ 
sorbing  attraction. 

A  distinguished  writer  once  dared 
to  express  in  verse  the  thoughts  and 
meditations  of  every  rational  observer. 

In  a  style  of  unaffected  simplicity,  which  is  onlj 
equalled  by  the  plainness  of  his  speech,  he  wrote : 


THE  IDOL  OF  MANY. 


BIBLIOLATBY. 


I  stood  at  the  door  of  God’s  temple  one  day, 
And  gazed  at  the  throng  as  they  entered  : 

I  studied  each  face,  as  they  passed  up  the  aisle, 
To  find  out  on  what  their  thoughts  centred. 


And  I  judged,  from  the  looks  that  the  most  of  them  wore, 
And  the  glances  they  cast  at  their  dresses, 


TRUE  AND  FALSE  WORSHIP. 


179 


That  they  worshipped,  instead  of  their  Father  above, 
The  diamonds  they  wore  in  their  tresses. 

And  I  thought,  as  I  stood  looking  silently  on 
Until  all  the  throng  had  been  seated, 

If  this  is  the  way  they  worship  their  God, 

I  am  sure  He  is  very  ill-treated. 

Then  I  turned  me  away,  my  soul’s  feelings  to  hide, 
And  wandered  to  where,  in  the  wildwood, 

I  could  hear  the  birds  sing  their  joyful  songs, 

As  sweet  as  in  days  of  my  childhood. 

And  I  seated  myself  by  the  side  of  a  brook, 

On  a  time-worn  and  moss-covered  stone  ; 

And  I  said  to  myself,  with  a  sigh  of  relief, 

“  I  will  worship  my  God  hero  alone. 

“And  the  sweet  birds  that  sing  in  the  tops  of  the  trees 
Shall  waft  to  the  throne  songs  of  love, 

While  my  heart  shall  go  out,  in  its  fulness,  to  Him 
Who  reigneth  in  mercy  above  ” 


XII. 

Origin  and  Influence  of  Prayer. 

TRUE  piayer,  oral  or  silent,  is  born  of  tho  bosom, 
not  of  the  brain.  It  is  the  legitimate  child  of  emo¬ 
tion,  undisturbed  by  skeptical  suggestions  of  the  intel¬ 
lect.  Hence  as  a  purely  spiritual  exercise,  springing 
from  the  love-gravitation  of  the  Unite  toward  the 
attraction  of  the  Infinite,  prayer  is  likely  to  include  a 
great  variety  of  conflicting  elements  ;  among  which 
may  be  mentioned — fervency,  rapture,  inconsistency, 
selfishness,  mystery,  shallowness,  awe,  reverence,  ego¬ 
ism,  conceit^  fear,  worship,  confidence,  rest,  and  joy. 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRAYER. 


181 


Spirit  is  the  source  of  the  emotion  which  seeks  to 
utter  itself  in  prayer.  Closet  prayers  are  petitions  for 
benefits,  or  expressions  of  gratitude,  or  praise,  or  sub¬ 
mission,  too  deep  for  words,  whispered  to  the  Infinite 
from  the  divine  silence  of  the  sincere  spirit. 

The  earnest  and  sincere  nature  is  invariably  devout 
and  prayerful.  Devotion  is  the  allegiance  and  bestow- 
ment  of  mind  to  its  labors,  objects,  and  enterprises. 
A  mind,  sincere  and  earnest,  but  not  intelligent,  prays 
to  the  gods  for  special  favors.  The  God  conceived  by 
such  a  mind  is  not  unchangeable.  He  thinks,  or  rather 
he  unthinkingly  believes,  that  praying  “  without  ceas¬ 
ing,”  or  that  human  entreaties  uttered  in  profound 
faith,  may  attract  God’s  attention,  overcome  His  ori¬ 
ginal  reluctance  to  granting  personal  favors,  and  may 
possibly  induce  Him,  “just  for  this  once,”  to  modify 
or  suspend  the  operation  of  natural  laws  and  causes. 

A  mind  capable  of  such  a  conception  is  happily 
incapable  of  perceiving  the  detrimental  blasphemy 
involved.  Nor  does  such  a  mind  realize  the  equal 
sincerity  and  earnestness  of  every  other  devotee  at¬ 
tached  to  the  conflicting  forms  of  religion  in  other 
parts  of  the  globe.  From  hundreds  of  minarets, 
throughout  the  vast  empire  of  the  Sultan,  at  this  very 
hour,  the  faithful  are  forwarding  sincerest  petitions  to 
God — asking  that  infidelity  (by  which  they  mean 
Christianity)  be  destroyed,  that  Mahomet  be  univers- 


182 


JETS  OE  NEW  MEANINGS. 


ally  accepted  as  prophet,  and  the  Koran  received  by 
mankind  as  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  prac¬ 
tice.  With  no  more  sincerity  the  faithful  in  the  dif¬ 
ferent  C  h  r  i  s  t  i  an 
churches,  beginning 
with  the  head  of 
the  papal  system 
and  ending  with  the 
youngest  exhorter  in 
a  camp-meeting,  are 
praying  for  favors 
and  results  entirely 
antagonistic.  War¬ 
riors  pray  to  the 
God  of  Battle; 
peace-makers  peti¬ 
tion  a  God  of  Love. 
Reading  with  Chris¬ 
tian  eyes,  and  pray¬ 
ing  with  the  emotions  familiar  to  the  catechismally- 
educated  Christian  heart,  pass  for  nothing  in  those 
immense  regions  where,  for  twelve  hundred  years,  the 
Mohammedans  have  sincerely  prayed  to  Allah,  which 
is  only  another  name  for  “  God.”  On  the  other  hand, 
in  countries  over  which  the  religion  of  the  Jews  and 
converted  Gentiles  prevails,  under  the  general  term  of 
Christianity,  the  reading  and  devout  praying  of  tlio 


READING  WITH  CHRISTIAN  EYES. 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRAYER.  Ig3 

followers  of  Buddha,  Brahma,  or  Mahomet,  pass  for 
nothing.  And  yet  all  praying  is  essentially  the  same, 
differing  in  expression  only  as  there  is  difference  in  the 
birth,  temperament,  and  education  of  the  individual. 

A  child-state  of  mind  is  essential  to  fervent  and 
rapturous  prayer.  Every  thing  wonderful  is  possible 
in  the  ignorant  mind.  The  absolute  impartiality  of 
God,  and  the  irreversible  and  eternal  unchangeableness 
of  Nature’s  laws,  are  ideas  impossible  to  be  understood 
by  partial  and  fickle  persons.  In  the  beginning  man 
made  God  in  his  own  image  and  likeness  ;  and  unto 
this  primal  masterpiece  man  has  ever  since  addiessed 
his  childlike  prayers.  It  is  related  that  a  little  boy  of 
Provincetown,  f  o  u  r 

years  old,  very  anxious 
for  a  drum,  the  eve¬ 
ning  preceding  Christ 
mas  Eve,  on  going  to 
bed,  uttered  the  fol¬ 
lowing  earnest  prayer : 

“  Now  I  lav  me  down 
to  sleep,”  1  want  a 
drum ,  “  I  pray  the 
Lord.”  I  want  a  drum , 

J  PRATER  OP  THE  BEGGAR-GIRL. 

“  my  soul  to  keep  ;  if 

I  should  die  before  I  wake,”  I  want  a  drum.  And 
his  prayer  was  answered  ! 


184 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


The  universal  practice  is  to  pray  upon  the  theory 
that  the  Infinite  expects  and  requires  of  finite  creatures 
vocal  recognition,  glorification,  and  entreaty.  This 
fallacious  theory  has  resulted  in  universal  routine 
praying— a  sort  of  Sabbath-drill  and  periodical  drive 
at  the  original  source  of  every  blessing — so  that  the 
phraseology  of  prayer,  as  well  as  the  peculiar  emotions 
volitionally  summoned  to  stimulate  vocal  utterance, 
have  become  wearily  monotonous  and  blasphemously 


mechanical.  As  a  labor-saving  expedient,  the  more 
logical,  yet  not  less  sincere,  heathen  have  instituted 
divers  praying-machines;  which,  it  is  affirmed,  uni¬ 
formly  maintain  an  untarnished  reputation  for  “  good 
morals,’’  and  demand  nothing  by  way  of  salary  for 
religious  “  services  rendered.” 

Enthroned  human  power,  which  means  influence 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRAYER. 


185 

embodied  in  place  or  genius,  commands  respect  and 
compels  worship.  “  Hero-worship,”  is  the  homage  paid 
by  awe-struck  and  submissive  idolators  to  the  personi¬ 
fication  of  power.  The  prone  spirit  of  prayer  is  pre¬ 
sent  in  all  such  adoration.  It  is  this  spirit  of  syco¬ 
phantic  subserviency  which  urges  men  to  surrender 
their  natural  rights,  and  to  sign  :  “We  are  your  Lord¬ 
ship’s  humble  and  obedient  servants.”  Obedience  to 
constituted  authority  is  necessary  to  private  and  public 
order.  With  such  obedience  is  mingled  the  element 
of  conscience  or  duty.  But  it  is  manifestly  every 
man’s  higher  duty,  all  his  life  long,  to  search  out  and 
obey  the  Truth.  “  His  Worshipful  Highness,”  is  the 
utterance  of  a  devotee.  The  primal  impulse  is  the 
same,  only  directed  with  different  thoughts,  when  the 
tongue  substitutes  the  words — “  O  thou,  Lord  God 
Almighty.” 

An  ardent,  poetic  temperament,  stimulating  a  mind 
much  more  developed  in  the  moral  faculties  than  in 
the  intellectual,  is  most  successful  in  expressing  the 
beauty  of  holiness  in  prayer.  Only  religious  poets, 
during  their  youthful  epochs,  can  reach  the  climax  of 
inspiration  in  utterance. 

True  prayer  is  the  glowing  and  graceful  expression 
of  the  virgin  imagination,  warmed  and  fed  by  spiritual 
passion  and  devout  meditation.  Religious  feeling  is 
the  poetic  brooding  of  the  spirit.  It  is  cherished  most 


18(5 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


devotionally  in  youth.  And  being  an  intimation  of 
that  infinite  and  eternal  life  of  which  the  spirit  is  nays* 
teriously  a  part,  the  feeling  grows  in  the  most  inmost 
secrets  of  the  heart,  and  is  revealed  often  in  the  pas¬ 
sionate  and  picturesque  language  of  prayer.  Analysis 
of  the  development  and  formation  of  the  religious 
character  would  reveal  elements  which  are  indispensa¬ 
ble  to  a  true  poetic  genius — such  as  childhood,  with  its 
apprehensive  and  clinging  consciousness  of  depen¬ 
dence  ;  love  of  solitude,  with  its  unconquerable  melan¬ 
choly  and  brooding ;  love  of  the  supernatural,  with 
its  delicate  imaginations  and  bold  appreciations  of  the 
Supreme  Power ;  love  of  ideas,  with  its  conflicting 
consciousness  of  ignorance  and  intuition  strangely  inter¬ 
mingled  ;  and,  lastly,  the  love  of  life,  with  its  moods 
and  mysteries,  with  its  loneliness  and  associations,  with 
faith  and  doubts,  attempts,  failures,  reveries,  sorrows, 
and  despair — these  elements,  in  states  more  or  less  act¬ 
ive,  are  to  be  found  in  the  composition  of  the  sincerely 
religious  character,  especially  during  the  earlier  years 
of  its  development. 

Finite  good  within  yearns  toward  the  Infinite  good. 
The  spirit’s  natural  impulse  is  to  enlist  in  God’s 
service ;  and  prayer  is  the  formal  act  of  enrollment. 
The  ambition  to  be  an  officer,  and  not  a  private,  in  the 
Lord’s  army,  is  deemed  a  holy  ambition.  The  protec¬ 
tion  of  the  Almighty  is  a  feeling  with  which  eterna- 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRAYER. 


187 


love  and  assistant  angels  clothe  every  human  heart 
that  truly  pours  itself  out  in  prayer. 

A  young  and  recently  consecrated  clergyman  is 
most  enthusiastic  in  feeling  ;  and  he  is  on  most  familiar 
and  affectionate  terms  with  God.  His  feeling  of 
“  power  from  Heaven  ”  is  equal,  in  his  own  estima¬ 
tion,  to  the  might  of  ten  times  ten  thousand  sinners. 
He  fights  valiantly  under  the  war-standard  of  the 
Almighty.  It  is,  perhaps,  a  great  happiness  that  he 
is  not  disturbed  with  the  fact  that  thousands  of  persons 
— his  equals  in  position,  ability,  industry,  and  sincer¬ 
ity — have  entered  God’s  service  through  fervent  and 
constant  prayer,  uttered  before  altars  in  pagodas  and 
in  countries  where  the  Christian’s  bible  and  plans  of 
salvation  have  never  been  heard  of.  Was  is  not  some¬ 
what  youthful  to  write  in  the  following  style  ?  “In 
your  lonely  prayers  are  the  springs  of  all  prayerful 
influence.  What  mighty  heroes  have  sprung  from 
that  closet-oommunion !  O,  those  wells  that  gushed 
in  God’s  sight  only !  That  outcry  in  secret  to  God  ! 
What  great  life  has  come  from  private  prayer  !  Chris¬ 
tianity  was  born  in  Gethsemane.  Cromwell’s  soldiers, 
beneath  their  iron  armor,  wore  private  prayer,  and 
that  is  the  reason  they  whipped  the  dashing  cavaliers. 
The  old  Covenanters  tore  their  knees  upon  the  rocks 
in  wrestlings  with  themselves,  and  then  went  to  mar¬ 
tyrdom  as  to  a  feast.  We  owe  it  to  the  Puritan  pri- 


L88 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


vate  prayer  that  we  have  this  Republic  to-day.  Not 
to  talents  alone,  not  to  genius,  not  to  tact,  is  the  world 
in  debt ;  but  to  the  prone  soul  in  the  shut  chamber. 
O,  when  you  hear  the  tramp  of  armies,  do  you  think 
they  win  the  day  ?  No  !  but  God’s  step  in  the  soul’s 
communion.” 

There  is  doubtless  a  certain  correspondence  between 
a  man’s  life  and  his  prayers  ;  not  because  of  his  pray¬ 
ers,  but  because  of  the  mental  and  moral  condition 
out  of  which  his  petitions  are  spoken.  A  wicked- 
minded  man  is  insane.  He  is  ungrateful  and  turbu¬ 
lent  ;  like  the  tempest,  he  is  full  of  discords  and  de¬ 
struction.  He  is  no  poet,  and  his  whole  life  is  covered 
with  the  clouds  of  calamities  ;  his  ship  is  tossed  in  the 
waves  of  wmes  and  passion  ;  so  that,  unless  he  selfishly 
supplicates  for  help,  he  is  a  stranger  to  every  kind  of 
prayer. 

Religious  persons,  on  the  contrary,  believe  that 
every  day,  like  every  great  labor,  should  begin  and 
end  with  prayer.  This  systematic  plan,  under  God’s 
blessing,  it  is  believed  will  make  the  day  and  the  labor 
prosperous.  But  all  experience  proves  that  obedience 
to  the  laws  of  truth  and  justice  is  attended  wfith  far 
greater  happiness  and  prosperity.  The  history  of  the 
American  nation,  like  the  career  of  every  other  people, 
indicates  that  divine  principles,  when  obeyed ,  and  not 
prayers  uttered  either  by  priests  or  citizens,  accom- 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRAYER. 


189 


plished  all  the  real  prosperity  it  ever  enjoyed.  Our 
Congress  lias  a  chaplain.  “  I  heard  him  pray  this 
morning,”  writes  a  correspondent  to  the  Independent. 
1 1  haven’t  a  doubt  but  he  intended  to  offer  it  to  the 
Lord,  that  loud-rolling,  oratorical  prayer  ;  but  it  sound¬ 
ed  very  much  as  if  it  were  addressed  to  the  senators. 
Half  the  public  prayers  we  hear  seem  to  bound  back 
from  the  ceiling.  I  wonder  how  they  seem  to  the 
Lord,  these  astonishing  literary  performances  made  at 
His  feet,  in  which  he  receives  much  curious  informa¬ 
tion  concerning  His  universe  and  the  way  to  manage 
it !  I  know  I  am  not  a  standard  in  such  matters.  I 
couldn’t  throw  out  my  arms,  throw  back  my  head,  and 
lift  up  my  voice  in  rolling  thunder  to  the  Almighty, 
if  I  would  ;  and  I  would  not,  if  I  could.  Therefore, 
I’m  no  criterion  while  I  say  that  if  every  senator 
bowed  his  uncovered  head  in  silent  supplication  it 
would  be  much  more  impressive  as  an  act  of  worship 
than  all  the  rhetoric  which  ever  rolled  heavenward 
from  the  desk.” 

“Would’st  thou  know  the  lawfulness  of  the  labor 
which  thou  desirest  to  undertake  ?  ”  asked  Enchiridon. 
“  Let  thy  devotion  recommend  it  to  divine  blessing  ; 
if  it  be  lawful,  thou  shalt  perceive  thy  heart  encour¬ 
aged  by  thy  prayer;  if  unlawful,  thou  shalt  find  thy 
prayer  discouraged  by  thy  heart.”  That  is  to  say,  a 
man  must  first  desire  to  do  good,  and  his  exertions 


190  JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 

must  correspond  with  his  desire,  before  he  can  realize 
much  strength  and  comfort  from  prayer.  Such  pray¬ 
ers  are  simply  right  actions.  The  firmest  will  and  the 
toughest  muscles  give  out  eventually  in  a  bad  cause  ; 
while  in  the  cause  of  truth,  love,  justice,  and  peace, 
success  is  certain  at  last  to  crown  the  weakest  and 
humblest  laborer.  Who  would  attempt  to  pray  for  a 
harvest  without  having  first  plowed  and  planted  the 
ground  ?  Prayer  is  a  healer  of  diseases ;  only  when 
faith  is  sufficient  to  stimulate  the  will-power,  whereby 


crippled  functions  are  aroused  to  new  life.  Prayer 
feeds  the  poor,  only  when  some  attending  angels  bring 
aid  from  the  rich  ;  but  this  is  an  end  not  easily  or  fre¬ 
quently  accomplished.  Labor,  righteously  and  per¬ 
sistently  bestowed,  is  the  surest  self-answering  prayer, 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRATER. 


191 


and  it  never  comes  without  the  blessings  and  sweet 
benedictions  of  God  and  Nature. 

It  is  mental  infancy  which  believes  in  a  fickle  and 
wrathful  God.  Believers  in  supernatural  warnings, 
and  in  sudden  strokes  from  the  throne  of  omnipotence, 
are  ignorant  of  the  laws  of 
reason  and  science.  A  clap 
of  thunder,  which  is  utterly 
without  power  to  harm,  is 
more  alarming  to  the  igno¬ 
rant  than  the  flash  of  light 
ning  which  alone  can  de¬ 
stroy.  So  with  all  ideas 
among  the  superstitious  con¬ 
cerning  the  efficacy  and 
mystery  of  prayer.  They  think  that  a  roaring  Metho- 
distic  petition,  let  off  at  the  top  of  the  voice,  will 
quicker  attract  God’s  attention  than  the  unspoken 
“  good  wish”  which,  like  the  “  God  bless  you  ”  of  an 
angel’s  whispered  prayer,  throbs  and  burns  before  high 
heaven,  noiselessly,  in  the  sweet  sanctuary  of  the  sin¬ 
cere  heart. 

Attributing  horrible  deeds  to  God’s  direct  agency 
belongs  legitimately  to  the  era  of  oral  and  noisy  pray¬ 
ing.  In  Richmond,  Va.,  within  a  few  months,  there 
occurred  a  terrible  scene ;  about  which  one  of  “  the 
great  dailies  ”  thus  most  wisely  discourses  :  “  It  is  a 


MEN  SAVING  THEMSELVES. 


192 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


weakness  of  clergymen  to  attribute  to  providential 
agency,  as  either  directly  or  indirectly  manifested,  the 
most  horrible  of  deeds.  In  this  particular  case  we  find 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Hepworth  gravely  asserting  that  ‘  there 
was  a  God  in  it ;  it  was  no  blind  accident.’  Rev.  Mr. 
Smyth,  discoursing  on  the  same  subject,  held  that 
homes  were  made  desolate  and  hearts  cruelly  wrung 
because  of  political  injustice,  which  was  true  enough  ; 
but  he  followed  up  these  ideas  by  indirectly  express¬ 
ing  the  conviction  that  the  accident  was  due  to  a 
special  visitation  of  Providence.  In  Washington,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Barry,  after  declaring  that  ‘  God  moved  in 
a  mysterious  way,’  applied  this  quotation  from  the 
hymn  to  the  disaster,  by  saying  that  ‘  the  Richmond 
catastrophe  and  similar  calamities  only  illustrate  the 
fact  of  God’s  providence.  Such  things  are  not  the 
work  of  chance.’  We  could  quote  from  several  other 
sermons  to  show  that  all  the  preachers  were  of  one 
mind  ;  but  these  will  suflice  for  our  purpose. 

“  Now,  with  all  due  respect  to  the  clergymen,  we 
must  differ  with  them  in  their  conclusions.  The  Rich¬ 
mond  accident  was  due  to  purely  natural  causes,  or 
rather  to  the  disobedience  of  lawrs  laid  down  by  nature. 
We  cannot  see  wherein  the  Lord  had  any  thing  to 
do  with  the  giving  way  of  the  floor.  Ignorant  archi¬ 
tects,  and  not  Providence,  are  responsible  for  the  kill¬ 
ing  and  maiming  of  nearly  two  hundred  persons. 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRAYER. 


193 


There  was  not,  and  is  not,  the  slightest  evidence  of 
the  supernatural  having  been  concerned  in  the  disas¬ 
ter.  Certain  pillars  which  had  supported  the  floor 
had  been  injudiciously  removed,  thereby  weakening 
the  power  of  the  beam  to  support  a  heavy  weight. 
For  the  first  time,  probably,  since  the  alterations  were 
made  the  court  room  was  densely  crowded.  As  a  nat¬ 
ural  consequence  the  laws  of  gravitation  asserted  them¬ 
selves;  the  girder  gave  way,  and  the  mass  of  human 
beings  was  precipitated  to  the  floor  beneath  to  meet 
death  or  wounds.  Here  we  have  a  clear,  simple  ex¬ 
planation  of  the  affair.  Nowhere  in  it  can  we  see  the 
hand  of  Providence.  Nothing  occurred  which  cannot 
be  accounted  for  on  purely  natural  grounds. 

“  If  we  are  to  agree  with  the  preachers  that  the 
Almighty  deliberately  cut  off  from  earth  some  sixty 
persons,  mangled  the  bodies  of  more  than  one  hundred 
others,  brought  misery  and  penury  to  many  domestic 
circles  and  plunged  an  entire  community  in  mourning, 
why  shall  we  not  hold  Him  responsible  for  the  com¬ 
mission  of  every  frightful  act?  Shall  we  hold  that 
when  one  man  murders  another  the  hand  of  Provi¬ 
dence  is  apparent  in  the  deed  ?  Are  all  the  horrible 
and  nameless  crimes  almost  daily  committed  the  work 
of  God  ?  If  they  are,  then  nothing  is  left  for  Satan  to 
do.  Certainly,  when  we  reflect  that  the  victims  of  the 

Piehmond  disaster  were  not  more  sinful  than  the  ma¬ 
tt  I 


194 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


jority  of  men,  it  seems  very  much  as  if  the  King  of 
Evil  had  more  to  do  with  it  than  the  God  of  mercy 
and  righteousness.  One’s  faith  in  the  divine  truths 
of  Christianity  would  be  much  shaken  if  the  belief 
could  find  lodgment  in  the  mind  that  to  the  direct 
agency  of  Providence  is  due  all,  or  a  great  part,  of 
human  woe  and  misery.  No  ;  mysterious  as  are  God’s 
ways,  they  do  not  manifest  themselves  in  such  horrors 
as  that  which  occurred  at  Richmond  last  week.  The 
Infinite  mind  seeks  not  thus  to  impress  its  power  upon 
sinful  humanity,  and  we  must,  therefore,  dissent  from 
the  views  of  those  clergymen  who  argue  that  it  does. 
And  more  ;  in  leaving  this  subject  we  must  give  ex¬ 
pression  to  the  profound  conviction  that  one  of  the 
great  reasons  for  the  wide-spread  scepticism  of  the  age 
is  to  be  found  in  clergymen  preaching  from  the  pulpit 
the  doctrine  of  providential  agency  in  the  most  repul¬ 
sive  occurrences.  By  this  teaching  Christianity  is 
divested  of  its  most  beautiful  features,  and  God  Him¬ 
self  is  represented  as  the  very  incarnation  of  cruelty 
and  revenge.” 

So  much  wholesome  common  sense,  uttered  so  free¬ 
ly  by  the  editor  of  a  leading  journal,  in  the  Metropolis 
of  America,  is  enough  to  induce  the  Governors  to  ap¬ 
point  a  u  Day  for  Fasting,  Humiliation,  and  Prayer.” 

It  is  no  mystery  why  infantile  and  sincere  minds — 
that  is,  religious-minded  persons,  totally  ignorant  of 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRAYER. 


195 


the  teachings  of  modern  science — should  be  terrified 
by  great  material  changes.  (We  do  not  now  speak  of 
pulpit  charlatans  and  professional  hypocrites.)  Nine 
out  of  every  ten  of  such  minds  believe  devoutly  that 
the  earthquake  and  the  thunder-storm  are  really  God’s 
chosen  chariots  in  which  to  drive  furiously  and  roar- 
ingly  about  among  His  insignificant  creatures.  They 
think  that  nothing  but  noise  and  fire  and  fury — like 
volcanic  thunders,  lightnings,  and  ocean  tempests — 
can  give  adequate  expression  to  the  unfathomable 
opinions  and  feelings  of  omnipotence  !  Persons  of 
this  way  of  believing  are  usually  gifted  in  vociferating 
tremendous  prayers  into  the  immense  ears  of  their 
changeful  and  wrathful  god. 

There  really  is,  however,  an  impressiveness  in  thun¬ 
der  and  lightning,  and  in  falling  floods  of  rain,  which 
cannot  but  fill  the  mind  with  wonder  and  awe ;  and 
it  was  but  natural  that,  before  men  could  comprehend 
the  phenomena  of  nature  through  science,  the  ignorant 
worshipper  was  overwhelmed  with  unspeakable  fear 
and  trembling. 

In  Ludlow’s  recent  work,  entitled  “  The  Heart  of 
the  Continent,”  we  find  the  following  grand  description 
of  a  thunderstorm  on  the  great  Western  Plains;  by 
which  the  religious  imagination  is  distinctly  impressed 
with  the  terrible  grandeur  of  the  scene  :  “  The  agency 
that  wrought  those  delicate  traceries  of  golden  sprig 


196 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


and  anastomosing  vein-work  began  to  have  a  voice 
At  the  foot  of  the  great  stair  came  a  rumbling  and  a 
groan,  as  if  the  giants  were  beginning  to  climb.  It 
grew  louder,  and  here  and  there  step  parted  from  step, 
then  the  structure  lifted  at  the  base  and  descended  at 
the  top,  making  a  series  of  black  blocks  and  boulders, 
hanging  downward  from  the  same  level  of  sky  with 
lurid  interstices  between  them,  through  which  the  up¬ 
ward  depths  looked  awful.  Never  in  my  life  did  I  see 
cloud  distances  graded  with  such  delicacy.  One  could 
almost  measure  them  by  miles  from  the  inky  surface, 
banging  with  torn  fringes  of  leaden  vapor  just  above 
our  head,  up  through  the  tremendous  chasms  flecked 
along  their  wall,  with  dying  gold  and  purple  color, 
with  wonderful  light  and  shadows,  and  marked  by  in¬ 
numerable  changes  of  contour,  to  the  clear  but  angry 
sky  that  paved  the  farthest  depth  of  the  abysses.  (I 
rode  on  the  box  for  an  hour  looking  into  these  glorious 
rifts  with  fascinated  eyes.)  Then  between  their  wails 
began  a  hurrying  interplay  of  lightning,  and  the  great 
artillery  combat  of  the  heavens  commenced  in  earnest. 
At  first  the  adjoining  masses  had  their  duels  to  them¬ 
selves,  battery  fighting  battery,  pair  and  pair.  Half 
an  hour  more  and  the  forces  had  perceptibly  massed, 
their  fire  coming  in  broader  sheet,  their  thunder  bel¬ 
lowing  louder.  An  hour,  and  the  fight  of  the  giants 
became  a  general  engagement.  The  whole  hemisphere 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRAYER. 


197 


was  a  blinding  mass  of  yellow  flame  at  once,  and  the 
reports  were  each  one  an  instantaneous  shock,  which 
burst  the  air  like  the  explosion  of  a  mine.  Then  the 
wind  rose  to  a  hurricane ;  and  before  the  dust  could 
be  set  whirling  by  it,  there  followed  such  a  flood  of 
rain  as  I  never  saw  anywhere,  on  sea  or  land.  Sitting 
on  the  box  still,  for  I  had  much  rather  be  soaked  than 
desert  such  a  spectacle,  I  found  my  breath  taken  away 
for  the  first  minute,  as  if  I  had  been  under  a  waterfall. 
It  was  not  drops,  nor  jets,  nor  a  sheet;  it  was  a  mass 
of  coherent  water  falling  down  bodily.  Five  minutes 
from  the  time  it  began  to  wet  us,  the  horses  were  run¬ 
ning  fetlock-deep,  with  the  road  still  hard  under  their 
hoofs,  for  the  soil  had  not  yet  had  time  to  dissolve  into 
mud.  Torrents  were  flowing  down  every  incline ; 
where  the  plain  basined,  the  water  stood  in  broad 
sheets  revealed  by  the  flashes  like  new  ponds  suddenly 
added  to  the  scenery.  Still  the  storm  did  not  spend 
itself  in  wind  and  water.  The  lightning  got  broader, 
and  its  flashes  quicker  in  succession  ;  the  thunder  sur¬ 
passed  every  thing  I  have  heard,  or  read,  or  dreamed 
of.  Between,  explosions  we  were  so  stunned  that  we 
could  scarcely  speak  to  or  hear  each  other,  and  the 
shocks  themselves  made  us  fear  for  the  permanent  loss 
of  our  hearing.  One  moment  we  were  in  utter  dark¬ 
ness,  our  horses  kept  in  the  road  only  by  the  sense  of 
feeling ;  the  next,  and  the  vast  expanse  of  rain-tram- 


198 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


pled  grass  lay  in  one  embrace  of  topaz  fire,  with  the 
colossal  piles  of  clefted  cloud  out  of  which  the  deluge 
was  coming,  earth  and  heaven  illumined  with  a  bright¬ 
ness  surpassing  the  most  cloudless  noon.” 

In  contemplating  such  a  storm,  with  all  its  atten¬ 
dant  phenomena,  the  mind  is  involuntarily  made  to 
think  of  the  immeasurable  energies  of  Omnipotence. 
Great  mountains,  seen  by  impressible  eyes,  produce  the 
same  internal  effects.  Thus  people  grow  like  the 
scenery  and  character  of  the  country  they  for  centuries 
inhabit.  Oriental  life  is  a  reflex  of  Oriental  scenery. 
Hebrew  history  embodies  the  physical  facts  and  cli¬ 
matic  phenomena  of  the  great  East.  The  sumptuous 
pomp,  the  barbaric  magnificence,  the  (so  to  speak) 
supernatural  vicissitudes,  the  picturesque  superstitions, 
the  wars,  successes,  revolutions,  and  the  religious  mani¬ 
festations  of  the  ancient  Oriental  nations,  have  counter¬ 
parts  in  the  great  deserts,  fertile  plains,  beautiful  val¬ 
leys,  mighty  mountain  ranges,  unsurpassed  rivers,  and 
vast  seas  of  that  most  wonderful  continent. 

Therefore,  if  you  would  understand  the  origin  of 
“  oral  prayer,”  you  must  look  into  the  spiritual  ima¬ 
ginations  of  the  Hebrew  and  other  Oriental  nations. 
Day  after  day,  night  after  night,  until  forty  suns  were 
gone,  Moses  dwelt  alone  upon  the  mountain.  The 
dread  shadow  of  the  Eternal  throne  impressed  the 
religious  poet  and  lawgiver.  Ho  was  praying  for  the 


INFLUENCE  OF  PRAYER. 


199 


good  of  the  multitudes  in  the  valleys  below.  The  good¬ 
will  of  God  was  solicited  day  after  day  by  the  inter¬ 
cessor  in  his  vocal  prayers.  He  sought  to  change  the 
purposes  of  the  Unchangeable  !  He  sought  to  alter  the 
inflexible  will  of  Jehovah.  Thunders  roared  and  light¬ 
nings  played  fearfully  upon  the  mountain.  The  dis¬ 
cordant  hosts  of  the  vale  witnessed  the  terrors  of  the 
Almighty.  Yet  they  were  deplorably  ignorant  and 
superstitious.  They  instituted  other  more  palpable 
means  than  prayers  for  obtaining  God’s  favorable  no¬ 
tice  and  protection.  But  the  power  of  the  great  leader 
was  commensurate  with  his  untiring  persistency  in  oral 
prayer.  Accordingly  on  returning  from  the  mountain 
to  his  brethren,  he  instituted  the  government  and  wor¬ 
ship  of  the  King  of  kings  ;  and  his  inflexible  will,  act¬ 
ing  like  God’s  voice  upon  the  weak  and  idol-building 
hosts,  filled  them  with  reverence  and  unquestioning 
obedience. 

From  all  which  we  gather  a  lesson  :  that  the  most 
sincere  and  uncompromising  love  of  truth,  the  strongest 
will,  combined  with  the  clearest  practical  wisdom, 
burning  with  fervent  religious  feeling,  and  exemplified 
by  unweariable  industry,  are  infallibly  certain  to  win. 

But,  O  friendly  reader  !  let  us  not  leave  this  theme 
without  considering  some  of  its  correlations  and  help¬ 
ful  auxiliaries.  The  following  chapter  should  be  read 
as  “  the  same  subject  continued.” 


XIII. 

Bealms  of  Sorrow  and  Superstition. 

THAT  superstition  is  hurtful  which  attributes  horri¬ 
ble  deeds  to  the  direct  agency  of  an  angry  personal 
God. 

It  is  at  the  bottom,  because  it  is  the  stem-supersti- 
tiou,  of  that  kind  of  “  religious  duty  ”  which,  swayed 
by  an  educational  conscience,  imposes  upon  its  posses¬ 
sor  the  solemn  necessity  of  oral  prayers  and  formal 
supplications.  The  originators  of  this  theory  say  that 
God’s  anger  must  be  placated,  His  good-will  must  be 
obtained,  and  direct  acts  and  benefactions  by  Him  in 
your  favor,  must  be  secured  ;  and  the  “  means  ”  most 


SORROW  AND  SUPERSTITION. 


201 


certain,  according  to  sectarian  superstitions,  are  faith 
and  works,  but  above  and  surest  of  all,  are  frequent 
and  long-continued  prayers ,  “  put  up  ”  with  all  your 
soul  and  might  and  mind,  wrestling  with  God  not  to 
be  omitted,  accompanied  by  any  form  of  entreaty  ima¬ 
ginable.  It  was  said  of  a  certain  eloquent  preacher 
that,  after  the  fine  choir  sung  a  few  hymns,  “  the  doc¬ 
tor  delivered  a  nice  essay  in  the  vocative  as  a  prayer, 
and  then  took  the  text  from  which  to  preach.”  Such 
gifted  prayers — “  nice  essays  ” — are  more  abundant 
than  beneficial. 

This  superstition  sometimes  takes  on  another  form  ; 
of  which  the  following  is  an  illustration  :  “A  religious 
woman  wdio  always  kept  Sunday  and  washed  o’  Mon¬ 
day,  and  in  fact  all  the  rest  of  the  week,  as  she  was  a 
washerwoman  by  occupation,  had  managed  to  scrape 
up  money  enough  to  build  a  snug  little  house  and  barn 
in  the  country,  and  one  afternoon,  after  she  was  com¬ 
fortably  settled,  there  came  along  a  terrible  tornado 
which  tore  her  barn  to  pieces  and  smashed  part  of  the 
house.  The  old  lady’s  indignation  was  at  first  un¬ 
speakable,  but  at  last  she  sobbed,  “  Well,  here’s  a 
pretty  piece  of  business.  No  matter,  though  ;  I’ll  pay 
for  this — I’ll  wash  on  Sundays.”  The  world’s  mourn¬ 
ful  graveyards,  in  which  all  are  sooner  or  later  mus¬ 
tered  from  life’s  battle-fields,  are  the  realms  of  numer¬ 
ous  sweet  superstitions.  Of  the  many  beautiful  or 

12 


202 


JETS  OE  NEW  MEANINGS. 


otherwise,  I  will  here  mention  but  two  :  One,  that 
death  is  a  perpetual  sleep  in  the  grave ;  the  other 
(which  contains  a  sublime  truth),  that  the  gates  of 
heaven  open  so  broadly  that  the  hosts  are  perpetually 
marching  in  and  out,  from  earth  to  heaven  and  from 
heaven  to  earth,  subject  to  solicitations  of  terrestrial 
high  privates,  who  congregate  in  “circles”  or  kneel 
together  in  “  prayer.’ 

Of  the  superstition  that  “  death  is  an  eternal  sleep  ” 
much  might  be  written.  It  is  the  foundation  of  all  ab¬ 
solute  skepticism  concerning  the  existence  of  a  world 
beyond  the  grave.  It  argues  that  beyond  known 
phenomena  there  is  nothing  different  to  discover.  Our 
knowledge  of  mind  and  our  knowledge  of  matter  is 
asserted  to  be  scien  itic  and  certain,  only  limited  ;  and 
that,  so  far  as  our  real  observation  and  knowledge  of 
these  conditions  go,  all  is  just  as  infallibly  reliable  as 
though  it  were  extended  through  infinity  and  pro¬ 
longed  through  eternity.  Coupled  with  this  reasoning 
is  the  assertion  that  death  is  death,  and  not  life ;  that 
the  idea  of  personal  immortality  is  fallacious,  being 
“  an  idea,”  and  nothing  more.  Death,  these  reasoners 
say,  is  the  certain  end  of  all.  Thus — 

“  An  immense  solitary  spectre  waits ; 

It  lias  no  shape,  it  has  no  sound  ;  it  has 
No  place,  it  has  no  time  ;  it  is  and  was 
And  will  be  ;  it  is  never  more  nor  less, 


SORROW  A  X  D  SUPERSTITION. 


203 


Nor  glad  nor  sad.  Its  name  is  Nothingness. 

Power  walketh  high  ;  and  misery  doth  crawl 
And  the  clepsydra  drips,  and  the  sands  fall 
Down  in  the  hour-glass,  and  the  shadows  sweep 
Around  the  dial  ;  and  men  wake  and  sleep, 

Live,  strive,  regret,  forget,  and  love,  and  hate. 

And  know  it.  This  spectre  saith  I  wait, 

And  at  the  last  it  beckons  and  they  pass, 

And  still  the  red  sands  fall  within  the  glass, 

And  still  the  shades  around  the  dial  sweep, 

And  still  the  water-clock  doth  drip  and  weep. 

And  this  is  all.” 

These  bold  and  irreverent  Materialists  are  met  by 
equally  bold  and  irreverent  Spiritualists.  Christians 
cannot  meet  them  philosophically,  unless  they  appeal  to 
the  “  phenomena  ”  accepted  by  Spiritualists ;  which  de¬ 
velopments  most  Christians  are  either  too  ignorant  to 
comprehend,  or  too  proud  to  accept. 

The  Christian  testimony  upon  which  faith  in  the 
New  Testament  miracles  is  based,  has  been  assailed 
and  invalidated  for  generations  ;  so  that  Materialists 
have  no  obstacles  to  encounter  save  the  “  inexplicable 
physical  phenomena  ”  presented  by  the  troublesome 
and  irrepressible  Spiritualists.  These  new  evidences  of 
“immortality”  have  not  been  successfully  assailed; 
although  the  “facts”  have  been  multiplied,  and  re¬ 
peated  in  every  part  of  the  civilized  world,  beyond  all 
parallel  during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century.  In 


204 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


many  parts  of  the  world  they  are  just  about  to  come 
forth.  Consequently  the  hosts  of  doubters  are  effect¬ 
ually  silenced,  but  not  yet  fully  convinced  ;  and  so  the 
great  and  good  “  fight  ”  is  certain  to  terminate. 


POPULAR  DOGMAS  BARKING  AT  MODERN  SPIRITUALISM. 


And  thus  we  arrive  at  our  second  superstition  , 
which,  nevertheless,  is  mingled  with  many  momentous 
truths.  The  illustrious  leaders,  the 
valiant  soldiers,  and  the  high-born 
heroes  of  this  long  battle  with  Ma¬ 
terialism,  have  stacked  arms  and 
encamped  upon  the  ground  of  in¬ 
discriminate  faith  in  a  constant 
communion  with  the  angels.  The 
DEri°FRTuiTLEssETBBE!‘  fitter  enemy  is  silenced,  his  guns 
spiked,  his  forts  dismantled,  and 
the  flag  of  “  immortality  demonstrated,”  floats  proudly 


SORROW  AND  SUPERSTITION. 


205 


upon  the  heavenly  atmosphere.  The  realms  of  shadow 
have  been  richly  furnished  with  substance.  Individ¬ 
uals  believed  to  be  “  dead  ”  have  responded  when  their 
names  were  properly  called.  Human  prejudices  have 
given  way  before  the  accumulated  weight  of  genuine 
spiritual  evidences.  And  the  martyred  saints  and 
patriots  and  comrades  of  the  “  new  era,”  clothed  in 
their  shining  victorious  habiliments,  are  already  in 
danger  of  conquerors’  crowns  and  martyrs’  monuments. 

And  why  are  they  not  crowned  ?  Why  do  not  the 
enriched  and  grateful  people  erect  altars  to  Spiritualism  ; 
Why  are  not  Spiritualists  more  united  in  good  works  2 
The  people’s  answer 
comes,  thus  :  “  If  it  can 
be  shown  that  Spiritu¬ 
alism  has  purified  the 
characters  and  ennobled 
the  lives  of  its  votaries, 
we  shall  be  prepared  to 
welcome  it.  But  no  such 
result  is  yet  apparent, 
and  the  world  must  con¬ 
tinue  to  regard  even  its 
highest  advocates  as  en¬ 
gaged  iti  work  unworthy 


CONFESSION  IS  GOOD  FOR  THE  SOUL. 


of  their  faculties.” 

What  rejoinder  from  us  is  possible?  We  have 


206 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


braved  the  perils  of  the  most  searching  investigation, 
have  successfully  withstood  the  shafts  of  ridicule  and 
the  destructive  assaults  of  bigotry,  and  have  planted 
our  “  evidences  ”  upon  an  impregnable  basis  ;  and  yet, 
upon  the  very  threshold,  around  which  our  laurels  are 
beautifully  growing,  we  are  met  with  an  objection , 
which  like  a  flash  of  lightning  demoralizes  our  grand 
army,  tills  thousands  of  honest  minds  with  unhappy 
doubts,  and  conveys  unmerited  relief  and  comfort  to 
the  bitter  enemy  whom  we  have  long  since  silenced, 
if  not  vanquished. 

Attributing  both  good  and  evil  deeds  to  the  direct 
agency  of  a  personal  God — out  of  which  has  grown 
up  a  custom  of  oral  petitions  and  written  prayers — this 
superstition  has  been  greatly  modi  fled  by  a  large  un- 
phi  losophical  class  among  nominal  Spiritualists;  so 
that,  as  another  superstition  (with  grains  of  truth  in 
it),  it  stands  in  this  proposition :  That  in  and  through 
all  human  thoughts,  feelings,  and  actions,  Spirits  are 
incessantly  operating  as  primary  causes  and  control¬ 
ling  powers.  Thus  a  limited  number  of  Spiritualists, 
unconsciously  following  the  affirmation  of  Swedenborg 
in  this  particular,  because  they  have  not  adopted  the 
purely  philosophical  method  of  investigation,  unwit¬ 
tingly  practise  upon  the  dogma  that  “  Spirits  can  and 
do  displace  the  private  will  and  personal  consciousness 
of  human  minds  ;  and  thus,  fully  possessing  and  con- 


SORROW  AND  SUPERSTITION. 


207 


trolling  such  minds,  do  make  manifestations  of  every 
name  and  nature,  and  frequently  for  their  own  parti¬ 
cular  selfish  gratification.” 

Wonderful  private  experiences  are  adduced  to 
substantiate  this  exceedingly  infantile  and  easily-ac¬ 
cepted  theory.  Because  it  is  scientifically  true  in  part, 
therefore  it  is  believed  and  acted  upon  as  though  it 
were  wholly  true  ;  instead  of  being  mostly  an  error,  as 
it  is,  filled  with  a  variety  of  hurtful  subversions  of  sense 
and  conduct. 

One  effect  is :  A  narrowing  and  debilitation  of  the 
believer’s  conceptions  of  the  grand  system  of  truths 
and  principles ;  and  the  correlative  effect  is :  An 
irreverent  familiarity  with  spirits,  on  the  fallacious 
dogma  that  spirits,  like  body-servants  and  house- 
waiters,  are  at  all  moments  subject  to  the  will  and 
wishes  of  the  questioner. 

One  day,  in  Broadway,  a  gentleman  accosted  me 
with :  “  Mr.  Davis,  I  want  your  clairvoyant  aid  in  a 
money  enterprise  in  which  I  am  deeply  interested.” 
Upon  inquiry,  the  fact  came  out  that  he  was  “  digging 
for  lost  treasure  ”  under  the  directions  of  some  fortune¬ 
telling  medium. 

My  reply  was  emphatically  that  “  I  had  not  a  mo¬ 
ment  to  give  him  for  any  such  purpose.”  Still  he  urged 
his  case  by  promises  of  “  large  sums  he  was  to  donate 
at  once  to  charitable  works  to  the  everlasting  glory  of 


208 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


Spiritualism.”  Again  with  kindness,  but  yet  more 
emphatically,  refusing  to  give  a  moment  of  time  to  his 
scheme,  he  replied  wilfully :  “  If  you  were  in  the 

spirit-world,  Mr.  Davis,  I  would  go  to  my  medium  and 
make  you  communicate  in  five  minutes,  and  as  long  as 
I  pleased !  ” 

Such  Spiritualism,  as  is  illustrated  by  the  folly  and 
shallow  superstition  of  this  man,  is  not  worthy  a  place 


MONET -HUNTING  UNDER  MED.  UNISTIC  DIRECTION. 


in  the  lowest  witchcraft  huts  of  the  middle  ages. 
“  Sir,”  I  said,  “  do  you  imagine  that  I  shall  have  less 
command  of  my  time  and  person  in  a  higher  state  of 


SORROW  AND  SUPERSTITION. 


209 


existence  than  I  have  at  this  moment  ?  ”  His  replv 
was  :  “  Spirits  are  bound  to  come  wheD  we  call  them  ! 
They  have  nothing  else  to  do  but  to  look  after  the 
friends  that  they  have  left  behind  !  ”  I  said  :  “  House- 
servants  as  obedient  to  ‘  calls  ’  would  certainly  com¬ 
mand  the  highest  prices.”  And  further  I  assured  him 
that,  speaking  for  myself,  *t  If  I  ever  returned  after 
death  to  this  seventh-rate  planet,  it  would  be  to  accom¬ 
plish  some  object  in  accordance  with  my  own  affec¬ 
tions,  reason,  conscience,  and  will,  and  not  in  response 
to  ‘  the  call  ’  of  some  selfish  money -hunter  or  any 
other  special  investigator.”  Whereupon,  of  course,  he 
marked  me  forever  “  out  of  his  books.”  But  to  every 


AN  ILLUSTRATION  OF  UNCULTURED  INDIVIDUALISM. 


sound  mind  it  must  be  evident  that  such  Spiritualism, 
considered  with  reference  to  its  effect  upon  the  struc- 
14 


210 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


ture  and  growth  of  character,  is  weakening  and  decom¬ 
posing,  not  to  say  disintegrating  and  dwarfing,  to  the 
last  degree. 

A  true  religion,  independent  of  all  tricks  and  mys¬ 
teries,  can  be  everywhere  known  by  three  signs:  (1) 
It  causes  the  person,  inwardly,  with  reverence  and 
affection,  to  look  up  to  the  Infinite  Perfection  ;  (2)  It 
causes  the  person  to  rise  to  the  universal  love  of  man¬ 
kind,  and  to  deal  justly,  truthfully,  and  peacefully 
with  every  living  being ;  and  (3)  it  causes  the  person 
to  strive  to  live  physically,  mentally,  socially,  and  spir¬ 
itually,  according  to  that  standard  of  supreme  excel¬ 
lence  to  which  the  immortal  spirit  naturally  calls  and 
points  all  mankind. 

If  I  were  asked  to  give,  in  brief,  the  chief  good  and 
use  of  this  great  Spiritualistic  movement,  my  reply 
would  be,  as  heretofore,  that  the  term  “  Spiritualism  ” 
is  properly  applicable  to  a  revival  of  evidence,  appre¬ 
ciable  by  the  physical  senses,  that  a  person  is  not  de¬ 
stroyed  by  the  chemistry  of  death,  but  exists  as  much 
of  an  individual  as  before,  and  enjoys  the  privilege  of 
travelling  in  the  spiritual  universe,  and  of  revisiting 
the  earth  and  holding  converse  with  friends  still  in  the 
fiesh. 

Spiritualists  teach  very  generally  that  “  circles  ” 
and  “  manifestations  ”  should  be  multiplied  and  the 
spirits  continually  evoked. 


SORROW  AND  SUPERSTITION. 


211 


On  the  contrary,  I  teach  and  insist  that,  beyond 
establishing  the  momentous  question,  “  If  a  man  die, 
shall  he  live  again  ?  ” — beyond  a  sensuous  demonstra¬ 
tion  of  the  fact  of  personal  immortality — the  convening 
of  “  circles  ”  and  the  accumulation  of  repetitious  “  man¬ 
ifestations  ”  are  not  beneficial,  but  weakening  to  both 
the  sensibilities  and  the  judgment. 


DISTINGUISHED  PROFESSORS  TRYING  TO  EXPLAIN  SPIRIT  MANIFESTATIONS. 


And  except  for  scientific  investigations — that  is,  to 
test  the  delicacy  and  wondrous  power  of  spirits  over 
material  things — it  will  be  found  that  “  dark  circles  ” 
are  valueless  and  injurious.  As  means  of  carrying  con¬ 
viction  to  skeptical  minds,  the  lightless  sessions  amount 
simply  to  this :  Persons  convinced  by  such  evidences 
usually  inquire  periodical  repetitions  of  “  facts  ”  to  keep 
their  night-encompassed  faith  from  languishing. 

But,  although  Spiritualism  is  not,  according  to  this 


212 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


definition,  a  new  religion,  it  is  the  herald  of  a  higher 
era  of  spiritual  enlightenment.  It  hospitably  welcomes 
every  fresh  thought  in  philosophy,  and  inspires  every 
advancement  in  science,  society,  and  life.  A  free  de¬ 
velopment  of  the  essentials  of  true  Religion  is  one  of 
the  accompanying  effects. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  Arahula  and  else¬ 
where  I  have  employed  this  term,  “  Spiritualism,”  with 
the  largest  meanings,  in  a  pure  spirit  of  accommodation 
to  the  popular  use  and  acceptation.  I  do  not  now 
justify  such  use  of  the  word,  although  I  do  not  mean 
to  recall  any  of  the  affirmations  under  that  head ;  be¬ 
cause  it  is  all  true  of  the  Dispensation  of  which  spirit¬ 
ual  intercourse  is  a  living  part. 

Behold  what  Spiritualism  (in  the  sense  with  which 
I  now  use  the  term),  has  already  encountered  : 

1.  Sectarians,  in  their  ignorance  and  pride,  have 
repulsed  and  spurned  it ; 

2.  Skeptics,  in  their  strongholds  of  materialism, 
have  ridiculed  and  neglected  it ; 

3.  Spiritualists,  in  their  familiarity  and  fanaticism, 
have  covered  it  with  imperfections  and  chaos. 

Familiarity  is  the  temporary  suspension  of  all  rules 
of  delicacy  and  veneration.  If  this  is  true,  right  here, 
between  man  and  man,  how  much  more  must  it  be 
true  as  between  earthlings  and  their  celestial  visitors ! 

It  is  an  abuse  of  such  exalted  intercourse  to  try  to 


SORROW  AND  SUPERSTITION. 


213 


make  it  subservient  to  personal  ends.  The  sad  misfor 
tunes  which  befall  many  mediums,  and  some  Spiritual¬ 
ists,  can  be  traced  directly  to  this  outrageous  selfish 
practice.  With  many  the  practical  uses  of  medium- 
ship  are  adopted  as  purely  mercenary.  Fortune-tell¬ 
ing  and  treasure-hunting  characterize  the  faith  and 
conduct  of  too  many  believers.  And  the  direful  con¬ 
sequences  of  these  crimes  are  upon  us  all. 

It  was  true  that  the  doors  and  windows  of  heaven 
were  opened,  and,  happily,  it  is  true  that  they  are  still 
open  ;  and  it  is  also  true  that  angels  often  descended  ; 
and,  happily,  it  is  true  that  they  are  still  descending, 
with  the  abundant  showers  of  their  sw'eet  influences, 
to  bless  and  elevate  humanity. 

But  the  legitimate  punishments  of  transgressed  laws 
and  violated  conditions  are  also  descending  upon  the 
disobedient  world.  The  delicate  fineness,  not  to  say  the 
modest  self-respect,  of  our  celestial  visitors  compels 
them  to  shrink  away  from  these  prolonged  abuses — the 
practice  of  using  mediums  and  spirits  for  selfish  ends 
and  temporary  benefits.  Their  justice  and  their  power 
are  being  silently  concentrated  to  resist  and  to  punish 
such  grovelling  malpractices. 

One  punishment,  which  must  deeply  sadden  every 
sincere  heart,  is :  The  withdrawal  from  direct  inter¬ 
course  with  earth’s  inhabitants  of  scores  of  truly  gre** 
and  learned  minds ! 


214 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


This  proceeding  is  going  forward  at  this  moment 
in  every  direction. 

Thus  the  grand  use  of  spiritual  intercourse — “  a 
living  demonstration  ” — is  rapidly  passing  into  record¬ 
ed  history.  The  refreshing  shower  from  the  spiritual 
skies  is  well-nigh  over.  By  this  is  not  meant  that  all 
communication  is  to  cease ;  nor  that  a  renewal  is  not 
possible  in  response  to  worthy  solicitation. 

Humanity  has  many  times  before  approached,  and 
enjoyed,  and  passed  through,  these  wonderful  epochs 
of  contact  with  the  celestial  spheres,  aud  the  believers 
have  been  before,  as  again  they  are  about  to  be,  affiict- 
ively  punished  for  sacrilegious  treatment  of  privileges 
so  high  and  pleasures  so  holy. 

It  seems  mournful  that  mankind  cannot  at  once  and 
universally  obey  the  laws  of  Nature,  Reason,  and  In¬ 
tuition.  Especially  in  the  realm  of  religious  feelings 
and  faith,  it  is  sad  that  principles  and  Ideas  cannot  be 
accepted  by  which  to  judge  all  phenomena  and  human 
testimony  concerning  them.  But  the  explanation  is, 
that  the  world  lives  progressively  in  emotion  and  in 
feeling,  and  does  not  easily  and  quickly  arrive  at  the 
lofty  blessings  of  thought,  reflection,  and  intuition  ;  so 
that,  unless  men  surrender  themselves  obediently  in 
all  matters  of  doctrine  to  some  supreme  “  dogma  of  in¬ 
fallibility,”  unless  all  bow  to  some  external  standard  of 
authority,  it  is  but  natural  that  most  persons  should 


SORROW  AND  SUPERSTITION. 


215 


become  involved  in  many  errors  and  superstitions 
while  independently  searching  for  truth. 

Among  the  errors  and  hurtful  superstitions  which 
have  sprung  up  in  modern  fields — in  fields  where  we 
fondly  hoped  the  immortal  flowers  of  Reason  alone 
would  grow  and  forever  bloom — I  will  in  this  place 
mention  only  nine,  as  follows  : 

1.  That  departed  spirits,  both  good  and  evil,  con¬ 
tinually  float  and  drive  about  in  the  earth’s  physical 
atmosphere  ; 

2.  That  evil-disposed  characters,  having  died  in 
their  active  sins,  linger  around  men  and  women  both 
day  and  night,  in  order  to  gratify  their  unsatisfied 
passions  and  prevailing  propensities  ; 

3.  That  all  known  mental  disturbances — such  as  in¬ 
sanity,  murder,  suicide,  licentiousness,  arson,  theft,  and 
various  evil  impulses  and  deeds — are  caused  by  the 
direct  action  of  the  will  of  false  and  malignant  spirits  ; 

4.  That  certain  passionate  spirits,  opposed  to  purity 
and  truth  and  goodness,  are  busy  breaking  up  the  ten¬ 
der  ties  of  families  and  take  delight  in  separating  per¬ 
sons  living  happily  in  the  marriage  relation  ; 

5.  That  spirits  are  at  all  times  subject  to  summons, 
and  can  be  “  called  up  ”  or  made  to  “  appear  ”  in 
circles;  and  that  the  “mediums”  have  no  private 
rights  or  powers  of  will  which  the  spirits  are  bound  to 
respect ; 


316 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


6.  That  spirits  are  both  substantia]  and  immaterial ; 
that  they  traverse  the  empire  of  solids,  and  bolt 
through  solid  substances,  without  respecting  any  of 
the  laws  of  solids  and  substances ;  and  that  they  can 
perform  any  thing  they  like  to  astonish  the  investi¬ 
gator  ; 

7.  That  every  human  being  is  a  medium,  in  one 
form  or  another,  and  to  some  extent ;  and  that  all  per¬ 
sons,  unconsciously  to  themselves,  are  acting  out  the 
feelings,  the  will,  and  the  mind  of  spirits  ; 

8.  That  spiritual  intercourse  is  perpetual ;  that  it  is 
now  everywhere  operative  ;  and  that,  being  at  last 
established,  it  cannot  be  again  suspended  ; 

9.  That  the  reading  of  books  and  reflection,  as  a 
means  of  obtaining  truth,  are  no  longer  necessary  to 
believers  ;  that  the  guardian  band  of  spirits  will  im¬ 
part  to  the  faithful  every  thing  worth  knowing ;  and 
that,  for  any  thing  further,  one  need  only  wait  upon 
the  promptings  of  intuition,  and  that,  in  any  event, 
“  whatever  is,  is  right.” 

These  errors,  these  superstitions,  and  these  dog¬ 
mas,  like  all  other  human  developments,  contain 
rich  intimations  and  germs  of  truth.  These  theories 
have  taken  deep  root  among  a  large  class  of  avowed 
Spiritualists.  And  the  legitimate  effects,  it  will  be 
remembered,  are  visible  in  the  disintegrations  and  de¬ 
compositions  of  character ;  in  mutual  disrespect  and 


SORROW  AND  SUPERSTITION. 


217 


recriminations  ;  in  the  disorganization  of  all  our  public 
efforts,  and  tbe  abandonment  of  our  beneficent  enter¬ 
prises  ;  in  the  irreverence  manifested  toward  even  the 
great  ceniral  Princi¬ 
ples  around  which  all 
persons  and  facts 
must  bow  and  cling  ; 
and,  lastly,  in  the 
gradual  suspension  of 
the  delightful  inter¬ 
course  itself,  by  which 
the  glory  and  un¬ 
speakable  opportuni¬ 
ties  of  immortality  have  been  brought  to  light. 

After  twenty-five  years  of  constant  investigation 
into  the  many  and  various  phases  of 
this  subject,  and  with  almost  daily 
realizations  of  somewhat  of  the  infinite 
goodness  embosomed  in  these  high 
A  pboobss  through  privileges,  I  can  most  solemnly  affirm, 
whi3Cuou£T™ed  and  I  do  now  make  the  declaration, 
that  the  nine  propositions  contained 
in  the  indictment,  are  mostly  errors  and  hurtful  the¬ 
ories — injurious  in  their  effect  upon  the  individual 
judgment,  and  still  mure  injurious  when  made  the 
foundation  of  faith  and  practice.  They  belong  to  the 

age  of  broom-riding  witches;  to  the  shallow  doctrines 

K 


218  JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 

of  personal  devils  and  sorcery ;  and  to  the  fiction-age 
of  astrology  and  the  small  gods  of  superstition.  They 
will  not  bear  analysis  by  the  philosophical  method  of 
detecting  the  presence  and  value  of  truth.  They  will 
not  stand  a  test  by  the  supreme  infallible  authorities — 
Nature ,  Reason ,  Intuition.  This  affirmation  is  made 
without  qualification ;  and  it  contains  a  challenge — a 
summons  to  investigation. 


AN  AGENT  OF  SAINT  CUSTOM  PUTTING  A  COLLAR  OVER  THE  HEAD  OF  THAT 
WHICH  IS  STRONG  AND  USEFUL  IN  SPIRITUALISM. 


Instead  of  the  assertion  that  spirits  are  continually 


SORROW  AND  SUPERSTITION. 


219 


present,  and  the  belief  that  they  are  instantly  engaged 
in  influencing  human  feelings,  convictions,  and  con¬ 
duct — instead  of  this,  it  would  be  far  nearer  the  exact 
truth  to  say : 

“  Spirits  even  now  rarely  communicate  with 

MEN.” 

Numberless  absurdities  spring  from  the  supposition 
that  mankind  are  continually  in  contact  with  citizens 
of  the  air.  It  is,  alas !  too  high  a  privilege,  too  deli¬ 
cate  a  luxury  for  the  human  heart,  to  be  frequently 
mingled  with  current  experiences.  The  percentage  of 
intercommunication,  O,  believe  me  !  is  still  very  small. 
It  is  yet  the  exception  in  human  life,  I  am  constrained 
to  affirm,  and  not  the  rule.  More  contact  with  the 
spiritual  life  is  what  the  world  most  needs. 

What,  then,  are  we  to  do  ?  Are  we  admonished  to 
retire  from  the  spiritual  movement  ?  Shall  we  aban¬ 
don  life  because  it  is  burdened  with  trials  and  imper¬ 
fections?  All  delicate  relations  are  attended  with 
great  risks  and  enjoyed  amid  great  dangers  :  Shall  we, 
therefore,  refuse  to  enter  into  them?  Nothing  noble 
or  heroic  can  be  achieved  without  labors  and  dangers 
of  greater  or  less  magnitude.  Therefore,  although  un¬ 
diluted  intercourse  with  the  celestial  citizens  is  still 
rare,  yet  the  grand  prize  (the  knowledge  that  personal 
life  is  continued  beyond  the  grave  !)  is  worthy  the  exer¬ 
tions  of  the  finest  powers  of  every  doubting  mind. 


220 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


But  remember,  O,  most  friendly  reader !  that  all 
other  uses  of  the  high  privilege  of  spiritual  intercom¬ 
munication — except  when  it  comes  in  response  to  the 
unseltish  prayers  of  friendship  and  love — are  flagrant 
violations  of  its  fixed  laws,  are  transgressions  of  its 
delicate  conditions,  which  cannot  but  be  followed  by 
innumerable  mortifications  and  various  disastrous  pun¬ 
ishments. 

In  conclusion,  this  one  word :  Prayer  is  sometimes 
a  key,  by  which  the  golden  door  of  infinite  opportuni¬ 
ties  may  be  unlocked  ;  and,  sometimes,  prayer  calls  to 
our  immediate  aid  those  wise  and  strong  guardians,, 
who  daily  live  in  harmony  with  the  eternal  currents 
of  affection. 


XIV. 

Effect  of  a  Mistake  in  Religion. 

A  SERIES  of  supplemental  considerations  for  thee, 
O  faithful  reader!  in  continuation  of  the  general 
subject  treated  in  the  last  chapter,  as  follows  : 

Spiritualism,  which  is  sometimes  called  “  spiritism,” 
has  justly  inspired  hundreds  and  thousands  of  noble 
hearts  with  the  fondest  hopes  for  humanity.  Highly 
endowed  intellects  have  been  by  its  immense  promises 
filled  with  the  most  brilliant  anticipations.  Many  of 
these  fond  hopes  have  perished  ;  many  a  bright  prom¬ 
ise  has  been  toned  down  to  the  verge  of  despair. 


222 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


Hundreds  of  the  professors  of  Spiritualism  have  retired 
into  the  frigid,  barren,  and  inhospitable,  yet  popular, 
territories  of  conservatism.  The  movement  was,  and 
is,  full  of  aggressive  and  progressive  minds ;  and  it  is 
correspondingly  empty  of  constructive  and  charitable 
labors  for  human  advancement.  Nowhere  on  the  good 
Father’s  footstool  can  be  found  a  richer  soil  so  ut¬ 
terly  grainless  and  unproductive.  No  other  existing 
movement  embraces  so  many  enlarged  ideas,  quickens 
so  many  generous  instincts,  inspires  so  many  impressi¬ 
ble  minds,  opens  so  many  grand  scenes  for  mankind  ; 
and  yet,  to  tell  the  plain  truth,  no  other  movement,  of 
the  same  age  and  with  the  same  wealth  of  opportuni¬ 
ties,  ever  exhibited  more  miserly  stinginess  in  its  ap¬ 
propriations  for  worthy  enterprises,  or  more  senseless 
extravagance  in  rewarding  individuals  for  the  selfish 
use  of  their  powers. 


“  AB  THE  TWIG  IS  BENT,  THE  TREE  IB  INCLINED.” 


MISTAKE  IN  RELIGION. 


2.23 


The  beautiful  tree  bears  but  little  practical  fruit  for 
the  millions  of  the  globe,  because  of  the  existence  of  an 
error  /  which  like  a  devouring  worm,  lives  in  the  very 
foundation,  and  which  is  day  by  day  eating  out  the 
life  of  its  finest  roots. 

This  destructive  error  is  the  general  misapprehen¬ 
sion,  entertained  by  the  intelligent  and  the  ignorant 
alike,  that  the  fact  of  communication  with  the  other 
world  is  worthy  of  exaltation  to  the  dignity  of  a  re¬ 
ligion,  and  that  the  constant  prayer  for  and  enjoyment 
of  such  intercourse  is  the  practice  of  religion. 

“  In  all  kindness,”  says  one  of  our  most  prominent 
writers,  “  we  ask,  is  not  Spiritualism  founded  on  the 
revelations  of  mediums  ?  Could  it  have  sprung  into 
existence  without  them  ?  ”  My  reply  is  :  “  Certainly 
not ;  and  simply  because  Spiritualism  has  no  other 
foundation,  it  is  radically  incapable  of  becoming  a 
practical  religion.”  Some  of  our  best  workers  and 
most  philosophical  thinkers  have  strenuously  advocated 
this  error  (of  a  medium-originated  religion),  as  if  it 
were  the  most  solemn  and  momentous  truth — adequate, 
when  believed  in  and  acted  upon,  to  overcome  all  pri¬ 
vate  human  ills,  and  adequate  not  less  to  work  in 
society  universal  redemption  from  every  form  of  evil 
and  wretchedness.  The  reduction  of  this  central  rad¬ 
ical  error  to  a  sort  of  independent  individual  practice 
has  eventuated  in  the  belittling  and  wretchedly  barren 


224 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


crop  of  small  gratifications,  which  have  come  to  all 
such  self-painstaking  practitioners. 


MEN  REAP  FROM  THE  SEEDS  THEY  PLANT. 


What  is  such  a  religion  reduced  to  practice  ?  It  is 
simply  and  only  and  forever  nothing  more  than  the 
private  drawing-room  development  of  mediums,  and 
the  night-after-night  communications  with  spirits  of 
every  name  and  nature — with  friends  and  foes  alike — 
and  for  no  purpose  other  than  the  immediate  gratifica¬ 
tion  which  may  arise  from  having  your  great  mental 
powers  applauded  and  flattered,  your  fond  hopes 
illuminated  with  immense  promises  of  wonderful  works 
in  store  for  you,  and  your  feelings  poetically  excited 
and  your  industry  lulled  to  sleep  by  assurances  that 
“  angels  will  take  care  of  you,”  and  that  the  slowly 
rolling  ages  will  bring  every  thing  straight  and 
smoothe  all  the  rough  places. 

AVith  such  delightful  convictions,  the  illogical  pro- 


MISTAKE  IN  RELIGION. 


225 


fessor  of  Spiritualism  goes  out  into  the  busy  world 
dreamily,  like  an  opium-eater,  full  of  enchanting  sub¬ 
jective  sensations  and  thoughtful  ambitions,  but  really 
and  practically  with  but  one  ever-present  and  all¬ 
mastering  motive :  Personally  to  enjoy  the  present 
life!  Do  things  go  wrong  about  you?  “Wonder 


INCONSISTENCIES  RECONCILED  BY  COERCION  AND  FEAR. 


why  the  spirits  don’t  step  in  and  make  every  thing 
smooth  and  right.”  Do  your  children  need  to  be 
saved  from  theological  errors,  and  put  upon  the  health- 
track,  and  taught  to  do  their  own  thinking  and  work 
in  the  world?  “  Let  them  go  to  some  church  or  send 
them  to  Sunday-school,  and  let  them  adopt  the  ways 
of  society.  A  working  organization,  founded  upon  a 
declaration  of  principles,  is  another  sectarian  move¬ 
ment  ;  therefore  it  must  die,  because  we  will  have  no 

more  association  with  sectarianism.” 

15  K2 


226 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


Are  there  old  dogmas  and  old  practices  to  be  over¬ 
come  ?  “  Certainly !  Spiritualism  is  the  infallible  cure- 
all — the  leaven  of  old  institutions  !  Let  the  churches 
absorb  it  (which  they  are  doing  very  rapidly),  and  the 
result  will  be  a  radical  modification  of  old  theology.” 

All  these  sayings  come  flowing  free  from  the 
mouths  of  the  professoi’s  of  Spiritualism.  Still  they 
claim  to  be  philosophers !  They  really  think  that 
they  are  logical  reasoners  !  Many  of  them  fancy  that 
they  have  fathomed  the  deeps  of  human  history  !  And 
a  few  believe  that  they  know  all  of  any  importance  that 
can  be  said  or  written  this  side  of  the  loftiest  angels. 
And  thus  they  are,  (only,  however,  in  their  imagina¬ 
tions,)  above  all  authority,  having  arrived  at  the  estate 
of  free  religion  and  perfect  self-control  ;  and  yet  a 
medium,  if  believed  to  be  “  under  a  high  control,” 
need  but  say  “  Go,”  and  they  depart,  or  “  Come,”  and 
they  approach,  obediently  like  well-drilled  soldiers  un¬ 
der  an  unseen  commander. 

Freely  and  honestly  I  have  written  against  the  pro¬ 
fessors  and  teachings  of  old  religions,  and  against  pop¬ 
ular  speculations,  called  “  orthodox  theology.”  Over 
and  again  I  have  denounced  their  most  sacred  faiths  as 
weak  and  soul-cramping  superstitions.  I  do  so  still, 
and  retract  nothing ;  neither  asking  nor  giving  quar¬ 
ter  ;  never  compromising  with  error,  nor  favoring  any 
forms  which  oppose  the  freedom  and  progress  of  man- 


MISTAKE  IN  RELIGION. 


227 


kind.  Here  an  old  question,  founded  in  a  principle 
of  charity  and  justice,  may  be  repeated  :  “Why  be- 
holdest  thou  the  mote 
that  is  in  thy  brother’s 
eye,  but  considerest  not 
the  beam  that  is  in  thine 
own  eye  ?  ” 

And  now,  in  this  spir¬ 
it,  without  wishing  to 
gi  ve  a  grain  of  comfort  to 
the  enemies  of  Spiritual- 
ism,  I  am  constrained,  in 
the  interest  of  truth  and 
humanity,  to  speak  as 
freely  and  honestly  against  • 
the  radical  errors  in  both  GO  toward  without  pear  when 

*  ON  THE  RIGHT  TRACK.” 

faith  and  practice,  which 

have  cropped  out  among  spiritualists.  As  in  my  heart 
there  is  not  one  feeling  of  unkindness  or  bitterness 
toward  any  believer  in  any  Church  or  Bible ;  so  there 
is  nothing  but  earnest  fraternal  love  towrard  all  men, 
inspired  by  a  still  more  profound  love  of  truth  and  en¬ 
franchised  reason,  which  moves  me  to  indite  these 
protestations. 

Spiritualism,  when  properly  defined  with  its  limita¬ 
tions,  is  not  a  religion ;  and  the  practice  of  communi¬ 
cating  with  spirits,  however  delightful  to  the  better 


228  JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 

feelings,  is  not  the  practice  of  religion  ;  and,  therefore, 
spiritualists  (i.  e.  spirit-communicants),  are  not  neces 
sarily  a  religions  people.  The  seed  of  Spiritualism  is 
spiritual  intercourse.  Can  the  fruit  of  a  tree  differ 
from  its  seed  ?  If  your  religion  begins  in  the  practice 
of  holding  such  communications,  where  will  it  end? 
It  is  a  circle,  and  will  end  just  where  and  just  as  it  be¬ 
gun,  in  the  practice  of  commerce  with  spirits.  Pri¬ 
mates  and  ultimates  resemble  one  another,  as  grain  hears 


BIRDS  ARE  SOMETIMES  INFLUENCED  BY  SriRITS. 


a  likeness  to  its  germs.  If  Christianity  relied  wholly 
upon  miracles  for  its  existence,  it  would  have  died 
when  its  seed-causes  (the  miracles),  were  suspended 
and  practically  abolished.  Interior  ideas,  and  not  won¬ 
derful  works,  were  the  vitals  of  the  movement ;  there¬ 
fore,  the  cessation  of  the  (so-called)  miracles,  which 
only  illustrated  the  ideas,  did  not  destroy  Christianity. 
The  ideas  and  doctrines  of  Christianity  constitute  its 


MISTAKE  IN  RELIGION. 


229 


religion  and  theology,  and  the  practice  of  its  ideas  and 
precepts  constitutes  the  practice  of  its  religion  ;  and 
thus  it  will  live  and  flourish,  and  originate  and  control 
governments  and  educational  institutions,  until  better 
ideas  and  better  precepts  eventually  modify  and  super¬ 
sede  them.  All  this  undeviatingly  proceeds,  like  the 
universe  itself,  upon  the  principle  that  M  effects  and 
causes  correspond.” 

It  is  folly  of  the  most  foolish  quality  to  expect  sal¬ 
vation  through  the  performances  and  wonderful  works 
of  any  self-asserting  special  son  of  God  ;  and  not  less 
senseless  is  the  presumptive  faith  that  the  state  of 
mediumship,  and  the  consequent  sympathetic  commerce 
with  the  citizens  of  the  next  world,  will  upbuild  indi¬ 
vidual  character  and  carry  forward  the  grand  ends  of 
growth  in  humanity. 

The  effect  of  the  first  error,  when  fully  accepted 
and  acted  upon,  is  visible  in  the  startling  imperfections 
which  crop  out  in  the  character  and  conduct  of  Chris¬ 
tians  ;  and  the  effect  of  the  second  error,  when  reduced 
to  faith  and  practice,  is  manifested  in  the  characterless 
sentimentalities  and  non-productiveness  of  theoretical 
Spiritualists. 

Spiritualism,  as  I  have  frequently  used  the  term,  by 
way  of  accommodation,  from  a  purely  harmonial  out¬ 
look,  may  be  truthfully  called  a  religion  ;  but  when 
strictly  interpreted,  and  measured  and  valued  by  its 


230 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


scientific  claims  alone,  it  is  little  more  than  another 
name  for  a  belief  in  and  knowledge  of  “  Spiritual  In¬ 
tercourse.”  And  this  last  definition,  which  is  the  only 
interpretation  a  careful  thinker  can  conscientiously 
give  to  the  term,  also  defines  the  uses  and  abuses  of  it 
which  abound.  Those  who  have  unphilosophically 
insisted  upon  a  wider  definition,  who  have  been  loudest 
in  proclaiming  “  Spiritualism  ”  as  the  all-in-all  of  a 
New  dispensation,  who  have,  while  encouraging  the 
most  extravagant  egoistic  manifestations  of  individual¬ 
ism,  advocated  a  declaration  of  principles  as  the  basis 


THE  PROGRESSIVE  TRACK  OP  SPIRIT-PACTS  RUNS  ALONG  T11E 
RIVER  OP  PRINCIPLES. 


of  an  organization  of  its  powers  and  professors — such 
will  find,  sooner  or  later,  that,  by  a  radical  error  in 
their  definition,  they  have  established  and  encouraged 
a  radical  error  in  practice,  to  the  advantage  and  vital- 


MISTAKE  IN  RELIGION. 


231 


ization  of  the  all-appropriating  churches,  and  to  the 
corresponding  disadvantage  and  debilitation  of  the 
freely-imparting  tendencies  of  the  central  good  there  is 
in  a  demonstrated  immortality. 

Ideas  and  indestructible  Principles,  and  not  the 
wonders  of  communications  with  persons  residing  be¬ 
yond  the  tomb,  are  the  seed-causes  of  progress  and  re¬ 
construction. 

The  eternal  Truth,  as  it  is  revealed  through  the 
beautiful  mediums  of  Love  and  Justice,  is  the  only 
everlasting  standard. 

Science  is  a  sure  safeguard  against  superstition. 

Reason  is  the  exponent  of  truth  to  the  intellect ; 
even  as  Intuition  is  truth’s  exponent  to  the  affections. 

Religion  is  true  and  undefiled  when  it  is  absolutely 
free — independent  of  dogmatic  theology  on  the  one 
hand,  and  free  of  fleeting  marvels  and  superstition  on 
the  other — free  as  immortal  love  and  truth  are  free,  a 
power  of  eternal  Good  and  Right  in  the  indestructible 
constitution  of  the  Spirit,  removing  error  and  distribut¬ 
ing  justice  throughout  the  world. 

Wisdom  is  the  most  sacred  name,  above  every  other 
name,  unto  which  every  knee  should  bow  and  every 
tongue  confess.  Our  Redeemer  is  Wisdom !  whose 
ways  are  pleasant ;  whose  paths  are  peace ;  whose 
heart  is  Mother  Nature;  whose  head  is  Father  God; 
who  saves  the  whole  world  with  an  everlasting  salva- 


232  JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 

tion.  Truth,  Love,  Justice,  Wisdom — each  an  angel 
of  life,  light,  and  happiness !  Let  us  strive  to  com¬ 
municate  with  them  ;  let  us  listen  reverently  to  no 
other  voices  ;  let  us  obey  no  other  authorities. 


XV. 

Omens  and  Signs  Among  Religionists. 

EVERY  philosopher  must  decide  that  it  is  unrea¬ 
sonable  to  expect,  in  the  present  stage  of  human 
progress,  the  general  diffusion  of  any  religious  faith 
without  a  corresponding  expansion  of  refined  forms  of 
fear  and  superstition.  Those  who  delight  themselves 
chiefly  in  the  feelings  and  mysteries  of  religion  possess 
little  ability  to  reason  philosophically  concerning  the 
laws  and  requirements  of  truth.  Every  established 
system  of  religious  faith,  and  every  denomination  of 
faith  in  every  such  system,  is  supported  by  multitudes 
who  utterly  repudiate  Reason  as  an  authoritative  ex¬ 
ponent  of  religion. 


234 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


Supernaturalism,  being  intrinsically  nothing  but 
nnnaturalism,  is  the  mother  of  innumerable  fears  and 
superstitions.  If  a  new  phase  of  the  spiritual  comes, 
like  the  wonders  of  modern  Spiritualism,  large  acces¬ 
sions  are  made  from  the  ranks  of  old  and  existing  sys¬ 
tems.  As  the  converted  Gentiles  of  the  olden  time  car¬ 
ried  into  Judaism  their  long-cherished  myths,  fears  and 
follies  ;  so  converts  from  Judaism  convey  many  of  their 
ancestral  rites,  omens,  and  superstitions  into  Christian¬ 
ity  ;  even  as  Christians,  converted  to  Spiritualism,  bring 
with  them  a  long  baggage-train  of  prejudices,  weak¬ 
nesses,  fears,  and  superstitions,  whose  maternal  ancestor 
is  Supernaturalism,  which  is  the  foundation  of  tho 
entire  superstructure  of  Christianity. 

“Faithful  are  the  wounds  of  a  friend.”  Infantile 
states  of  mind  demand  a  religion  of  “  rattles  and 
straws  ;  ”  which  the  estate  of  manhood  utterly  rejects 
as  “  childish  things.”  Therefore  human  nature,  before 
it  comes  to  a  knowledge  of  fixed  principles,  naturally 
believes  in  signs,  omens,  and  superstitions  ;  which  crop 
out  of  the  spirit’s  instinctive  trust  and  comfort  in  the 
idea  of  an  arbitrary  protective  Providence. 

Helpless  and  weak  and  wretched  is  human  nature, 
in  its  physical  and  mental  infancy  ;  beset  on  every  side 
with  mysteries,  contingencies,  calamities,  and  misfor¬ 
tunes.  Life’s  changes  are  charged  with  alternate  de¬ 
feats  and  victories.  We  do  not  stop  to  think  when  sur- 


OMENS  AND  SIGNS. 


235 


rounded  by  dangers,  and  when  encompassed  by  number- 
loss  difficulties,  which  threaten  to  crush  and  destroy. 

From  the  visible  the  feelings  yearn  for  protection 
from  the  invisible.  With  firm  reliance  upon  an  in¬ 
finitely  wise  Providence,  overflowing  with  illimitable 
power  and  with  equal  goodness,  thousands  of  persons 
in  every  system  of  religion  will  brave  any  danger  and 
attack  obstacles  of  every  magnitude. 

Men  are  fatalists  in  these  affairs  of  religion,  and 
many  minds  have  hope  and  patience  and  cheerful  cour¬ 
age  under  mysterious  trust  and  faith ;  while  under 
Reason  and  Conscience,  as  counsellor  and  guide,  the 
same  persons  would  sink  into  helplessness  and  despair. 
There  are  persons  who  do  physical  wonders,  and  ex¬ 
hibit  abilities  not  to  be  matched,  only  while  under  the 
effect  of  some  powerful  stimulant  or  mental  excitement. 

Faith  in  the  invisible  is  pe¬ 
rennially  important.  But  it 
exists  not  without  dangers  and 
absurdities  to  the  faithful  ;  even 
while  it  brings  tender  comfort 
and  sweet  trust  into  the  relig¬ 
ious  feelings.  Unless  the  judg¬ 
ment  is  fortified  in  knowledge, 
the  faith  becomes  extravagant 
and  superstitious,  and  the  be¬ 
liever  is  easily  influenced  by  omens,  signs,  spectres, 


THE  END  OP  LIFE  TO  THOSE 
WHO  SEE  NOT. 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


236 


wraiths,  forerunners,  and  whimsical  prognostications 
of  future  events. 

A  sailor,  who  cared  nothing  for  storms  and  dangers, 

could  not  be  induced  to 
go  out  one  fine  morning 
with  some  fishermen, 
because  the  night  before 
he  encountered  a  bat 
behind  a  broom  in  his 
cabin  on  the  beach.  He 
was  a  good  Methodist, 
believed  in  a  personal 
God,  and  in  a  kind  of 
a  sailor’s  unlucky  omen.  Providence  which  sends 

to  a  believer  distinct 


signs  of  impending  disaster. 

Heaven’s  ante-chamber  would  seem,  according  to 
some  providence-believers,  to 
be  a  place  of  evil.  I  know 
a  distinguished  preacher  and 
orator  who  confessed  that  to 
see  the  moon  for  the  first 
time  after  her  change  over 
the  left  shoulder,  is  certain 
immediately  to  depress  his 
feelings ;  and  his  mind  is 
filled  with  vague  apprehensions,  whenever  he  thinks 


SAW  THE  MOON  OVER  HIS  LEFT 
SHOULDER. 


OMENS  AND  SIGNS. 


237 


of  the  omen,  during  the  entire  month.  Notwithstand¬ 
ing  the  fact  that  his  judgment  rejects  the  omen  as 
sheer  superstition,  his  feelings  and  conduct  are  never¬ 
theless  more  or  less  unhappily  affected  by  the  trifling 
circumstance,  simply  because  the  supposed  significance 
of  the  fact  was  mingled  with  his  early  education. 

Not  many  months  since  I  received  a  letter  from  an 
unmarried  woman,  who  had  what  she  deemed  the  mis- 


A  STRANGE  CAT  RAN  INTO  THE  HOUSE  WHILE  THEY  WERE  TALKING 


fortune  of  seeing  a  strange  cat  run  into  the  door  just  as 
her  sister’s  only  son  was  about  to  commence  a  horse¬ 
back  journey  in  company  with  a  neighbor.  She  had 
received  a  good  education,  and  she  was  rather  ashamed 
to  confess  to  any  apprehensions  arising  from  the  fore¬ 
runner ;  but  she  could  not  shake  off  the  old  Welsh 
rustic  belief  that,  unless  the  cat  was  caught  and  con¬ 
fined  in  the  house  a  day  and  a  night,  some  dire  ea- 


238 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


lamity  would  overtake  the  darling  boy.  She  had  also 
been  recently  disturbed  by  bad  dreams  of  muddy 
water,  especially  since  the  youth  had  commenced  the 
journey;  and  on  several  nights  that  same  neighbor’s 
dog  had  foreshadowed  the  worst  fortune  by  howling 
most  dismally  ;  and  there  were  also  other  signs  of 
trouble. 

Her  fears  were  so  excited  that,  although  she  was  a 
theoretical  believer  in  the  doctrine  of  a  fixed  natural 
law  within  the  cause  of  every  event,  she  could  not 
shake  off  the  painful  anxiety  and  foreboding.  In  reply 
I  urged  upon  her  the  supreme  authority  of  Reason  ; 
that  her  dark  and  melancholy  apprehensions  were 
probably  owing  to  her  early  miseducation  in  the  super¬ 
naturalism  of  Christianity  ;  and  that,  besides,  there  was 
possibly  some  phrenological  or  physiological  cause  for 
the  sufferings  she  experienced. 

I  tried,  as  delicately  as  possible,  to  intimate  that 
the  “  dreams  of  muddy  water  ”  originated  in  some  bad 
condition  of  the  brain  or  bile ;  and  intimated,  also, 
that  I  should  be  glad  to  see  her  photographic  likeness, 
in  order  to  determine  the  temperaments  of  a  person  so 
filled  with  faith  and  doubts  concerning  symbolic  signs 
and  omens.  Her  answer,  which  covered  her  photo¬ 
graphic  likeness,  was  couched  in  terms  of  earnest  pro¬ 
test  ;  giving  her  opinion  most  decidedly  to  the  effect, 
that  she  had  a  firm  trust  in  a  supreme  Being  of  infinite 


OMENS  AND  SIGNS. 


239 


power  and  wisdom  ;  but  did  not  doubt  but  that,  some¬ 
times,  He  permitted  looking-glasses  to  break,  dogs  to 
howl,  and  imparted  bad  dreams  to  presage  a  death,  or 
to  warn  people  of  impending  evil.  She  entertained  a 


natural  dread  of  ridicule,  however ;  and  it  is  my  con¬ 
viction  that  this  dread,  more  than  the  exercise  of  her 
reason,  limited  the  indulgence  of  her  superstitious  fears. 
She  was  not  a  believer  in  Spiritualism,  but  had  great 
faith  in  the  fortune-telling  faculty  of  some  mediums. 

The  inhabitants  of  India  suffer  vastly  from  snake¬ 
bites,  and  the  havoc  caused  by  man-eating  tigers,  leo¬ 
pards,  and  other  wild  beasts  of  the  jungle.  In  the 
Central  Provinces  the  loss  of  human  life  by  tigers, 


240 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


wolves,  hyaenas,  leopards,  bears,  and  panthers,  is  im¬ 
mense.  We  learn  that  superstition  also  plays  no  small 

part  in  the  mainte¬ 
nance  of  these  intol¬ 
erable  scourges.  The 
Gonds,  for  instance, 
instead  of  mustering 
in  force  to  hunt  down 
the  tigers  wlio  wage 
war  against  them  and 
their  herds,  have  an 
idiotic  way  of  regard¬ 
ing  the  tiger  as  a 
divinity  whose  wrath 
it  is  unsafe  to  arouse. 
If  one  of  them  falls  a 
prey  to  the  divinity’s 

BAD  DREAMS  OF  ONE  NOT  A  TEE-TOTALLER.  appetite  for  llUniail 

flesh,  the  rest  of  the 
family  are  forthwith  tabooed  as  displeasing  to  the  ob¬ 
ject  of  their  reverent  dread,  and  must  expiate  their 
offence  by  costly  sacrifices,  which  may  leave  them  pen¬ 
niless  but  will  restore  them  to  their  caste-ri  ghts. 

What  misery  comes  from  the  womb  of  Ignorance  ! 
Disordered  imaginations,  the  changing  and  inclement 
skies  of  superstition,  entail  distress  and  wretchedness 
upon  human  nature.  We  listen  with  reverence  to  the 


OMENS  AND  SIGNS. 


241 


d'ctates  of  truth,  while  with  abhorrence  we  hear  the 
prayers  of  superstition.  A  firm  believer  in  spiritual 
intercourse,  I  know,  is  not  exempt  from  the  bitter 
struggles  and  horrible  notions  fixed  in  the  religious 
imagination  by  having  once  believed  in  popular  theol¬ 
ogy.  They  are  afraid  of  “  ghosts  and  graveyards,” 
and  dread  encountering  “  imps  of  darkness,”  and  suf¬ 
fering  many  deaths  by  being  in  “  bondage  through  fear 
of  deatln”  At  length  they  obtain  a  life-long  emanci¬ 
pation  by  being  converted  to  the  evidences  of  spiritual 
intercourse.  And  yet  I  know  a  Spiritualist,  who  would 
repel  with  scornful  emotions  the  least  insinuation  that 
he  is  superstitious,  who  was  one  day  absolutely  dis¬ 
heartened  in  the  prosecution  of  a  worthy  enterprise, 
because  by  chance  a  striped  squirrel  ran  across  the 
path  in  a  grove  through  which  he  was  walking  toward 


INNOCENTS  PLATING  IN  THE  GROVE. 


the  residence  of  a  friend.  Esteemed  for  his  wit  and 
geniality,  and  beloved  for  his  strict  integrity  and  high 


lfi 


242 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


moral  principles,  and  yet  so  suddenly  weakened  and 
turned  from  his  purpose  by  what  he  considered  “  a  bad 
sign  !  ” 

Strong  intellects  cannot  escape  the  effect  of  the 
memory  of  “  signs,”  and  the  occurrence  of  events  de¬ 
noting  “  evil,”  which  they  learned  by  heart  in  child¬ 
hood.  The  human  spirit,  naturally  reaching  into  the 
invisible  after  aid,  and  craving  sympathy  in  its  trials 
and  dangers,  is  sensitively  alive  to  the  teachings  and 
influence  of  fate.  In  spite  of  the  keen  shafts  of  ridi¬ 
cule,  and  in  opposition  to  the  plainest  dictates  of  com¬ 
mon  sense  and  accept¬ 
ed  science,  it  is  easy 
for  eight-tenths  of  ev¬ 
ery  population  by  in¬ 
sensible  degrees  to  lean 
to  the  side  of  ignorance 
and  superstition.  Upon 
no  other  principle  can 
a  philosopher  account 
ikgsifc  for  the  wide  -  spread 
acceptance  throughout 
civilization  of  this  dis¬ 
mal  thing  which  calls 
itself  “  Christian  The- 
ology.”  Thousands  up 
on  thousands  in  mis 


▲  BIRD  OP  EVIL  OMEN. 


OMENS  AND  SIGNS. 


243 


erable  homes  and  mad-houses  realize  the  unutterable 
horrors  implanted  by  a  catechismal  education  into  the 
deplorable  superstitions  of  literal  hells  of  fire  and  brim¬ 
stone,  a  personal  devil  of  magnificent  abilities  in  eternal 
opposition  to  Deity,  and  all  the  thirty-nine  other  name¬ 
less  nightmares  and  mythic  horrors  which  float  current¬ 
ly  as  great  truths  in  the  best  Christian  communities. 

Physiologists  have 
demonstrated  that  the 
“  hog,”  although  not  a 
medium  for  the  lesser 
devils  as  reported  in 
story,  is  a  first-class 
boarding-house  for  mil¬ 
lions  of  m  a  n-killiug 
worms.  Scrofulous 
diseases,  not  personal 
devils,  arise  from  the 
post-mortem  remains 
of  swine.  Christians 
still  continue  to  eat  anotheb  bad  sign. 

this  devil-meat ;  over 

which  many  daily  “  ask  blessings  ”  and  subsequently 
(i  return  thanks  ;  ”  as  if  the  God  of  eternal  and  unalter¬ 
able  truth  and  justice  would  or  could,  by  special  mir¬ 
acle,  convert  pork  into  piety  and  scrofula  into  rose- 
tints  on  the  lovely  cheeks  of  childhood  ! 


244 


JETS  OK  NEW  MEANINGS. 


Bad  dreams  naturally  visit  the  brains  of  pork-eating 
Christians.  Impossible  works  cannot  be  wrought ;  all 


A  PORK-EATER  AND  WINE-BIBBER  PREPARING  FOR  A  DREAM. 


things  are  not  possible.  It  is  a  weak  and  wicked 
superstition  to  believe  and  teach  that  an  unchangeable 
Deity  is  engaged  in  listening  to  and  answering  the 
selfish  prayers  of  pork-devouring  and  wine-engulfing 
believers.  The  fixed  laws  of  the  spirit,  graceful  in 
their  dealings  and  eternally  protective  in  their  govern¬ 
ment,  guard  the  citidal  of  human  life.  No  act  goes 
unrecorded ;  no  transgression  escapes  punishment. 
Mercy  is  manifested  in  the  gentleness  of  the  record, 
and  in  the  complete  and  perfect  redemption  they  ac- 


OMENS  AND  SIGNS.  245 

complish  in  the  offending  spirit.  The  transgressor’s 
way  is  very  hard,  and  his  salvation  greater  in  agony 
than  the  pains  of  a  fabled  hell.  The  human  mind  is 
constituted  for  an  eternal 
search  after  and  progres¬ 
sion  in  Good  !  Any  other 
use  of  its  great  powers — 
all  mere  search  after  that 
folly  which  the  ignorant 
call  “  happiness  ” — is  be¬ 
set  with  calamities  and 
wretched  defeats.  Why 
cannot  men  look  into  the 
laws  of  life,  from  a  pure-  xnE  old  man’s  after-dinner  dream. 
ly  honest  observation  of 

its  principles  and  purposes,  and  thus  harmonize  with 

its  constitutional  needs 
and  eternal  ends  ?  The 
numberless  evils  of  the 
world  are  the  offspring 
of  ignorance ;  then,  the 
brood  being  hatched 
and  multiplied,  a  mil¬ 
lion-sided  net  of  self-in¬ 
terests  encloses  the  evils 
and  protects  them  as 
dreams  of  floods  and  famine.  though  they  were  good  ; 


246 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


tlie  effect  is  oppression  and  general  wretchedness,  and 
the  end  is  revolution. 

In  order  to  illustrate  what  I  mean  by  tracing  out 
“  by  honest  observation  ”  the  laws  and  the  evils  of  life, 

let  us  read  Dr.  Hachen- 
berg’s  very  faithful  ac¬ 
count  of  Indian  Trailers 
and  Trappers,  in  his  let¬ 
ter  from  U.  S.  A.  Post 
Hospital,  Fort  Hand  all, 
Dacotah  Territory,  to  the 
Hudson  Star ,  February 
12,  1869,  as  follows  : 
“The  most  extraor- 

A  BELIEVER  IN  SIGNS  AND  OMENS.  d  1 II (i l'V  skill  that  Is  C xl  1  i  1) * 

ited  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  either  by  the  white  man  or  red  native,  is  the 
practice  of  trailing.  Here  it  may  be  accounted  an  art 
as  much  as  music,  painting,  or  sculpture  is  in  the  East. 
The  Indian  or  trapper  that  is  a  shrewd  trailer,  is  a  man 
of  close  observation,  quick  perception,  and  prompt 
action.  As  he  goes  along,  nothing  escapes  his  obser¬ 
vation,  and  what  he  sees  and  hears  he  accounts  for  im¬ 
mediately.  Often  not  another  step  is  taken  until  a 
mystery,  that  may  present  itself  in  this  line,  is  fairly 
solved.  The  Indian  trailer  will  stand  still  for  hours  in 
succession,  to  account  for  certain  traces  or  effects  in 


OMENS  AND  SIGNS. 


247 


tracks,  and  sometimes  give  to  the  matter  unremitting 
attention  for  days  and  weeks. 

“  The  trailer  is  not  a  graceful  man.  He  carries  his 
head  much  inclined,  his  eye  is  quick  and  restless, 
always  on  the  watch,  and  he  is  practising  his  art  un¬ 
consciously,  hardly  ever  crossing  the  track  of  man  or 
animal  without  seeing  it.  When  he  enters  a  house,  he 
brings  the  habits  he  contracted  in  the  practice  of  his 
art  with  him.  I  know  a  trailer  as  soon  as  he  enters 
my  room.  He  comes  in  through  the  door  softly,  and 
with  an  air  of  exceeding  caution.  Before  he  is  fairly 
in,  or,  at  least,  has  sat  down,  he  has  taken  note  of  every 
article  and  person,  though  there  may  be  a  dozen  va¬ 
cant  chairs  in  the  room.  He  is  not  used  to  chairs,  and, 
like  the  Indian,  prefers  a  more  humble  seat.  When  I 
was  employed  by  General  Harney,  last  summer,  to 
take  charge  temporarily  of  the  Indians  that  were  gath¬ 
ered  here  to  form  a  new  reservation,  one  day  a  guide 
and  trailer  came  into  the  General’s  headquarters.  I 
told  him  to  be  seated.  He  sat  down  on  the  floor,  brac¬ 
ing  his  back  against  the  wall.  The  General  saw  this, 
and  in  vexation  cried  out,  ‘  My  God,  why  don’t  you 
take  a  chair,  when  there  are  plenty  here  not  occupied  ?  ’ 
The  man  arose  and  seated  himself  in  a  chair,  but  in  so 
awkward  and  uncomfortable  a  manner  that  he  looked 
as  if  he  might  slip  from  it  at  any  moment.  But  when 
this  uncouth  person  came  to  transact  his  business  with 


248 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


the  General,  he  turned  out  to  be  a  man  of  no  ordinary 
abilities.  His  description  of  a  route  he  took  as  guide 
and  trailer  for  the  Ogallalas  in  bringing  them  from  the 
Platte  to  this  place  was  minute,  and  to  me  exceedingly 
interesting.  Every  war  party  that  for  the  season  had 
crossed  his  trail,  he  described  with  minuteness  as  to 
their  number,  the  kinds  of  arms  they  had,  and  stated 
the  tribes  they  belonged  to.  In  these  strange  revela¬ 
tions  that  he  made  there  was  neither  imposition  nor 
supposition,  for  he  gave  satisfactory  reasons  for  every 
assertion  he  made. 

“  I  have  ridden  several  hundred  miles  with  an  expe¬ 
rienced  guide  and  trailer,  Hack,  whom  I  interrogated 
upon  many  points  in  the  practice  of  this  art.  Nearly 
all  tracks  I  saw,  either  old  or  new,  as  a  novice  in  the 
art,  I  questioned  him  about.  In  going  to  the  Niobrara 
River  we  crossed  the  track  of  an  Indian  pony.  My 
guide  followed  the  track  a  few  miles  and  then  said,  ‘  It 
is  a  stray,  black  horse,  with  a  long,  bushy  tail,  nearly 
starved  to  death,  has  a  split  hoof  of  the  left  fore  foot, 
and  goes  very  lame,  and  he  passed  here  early  this 
morning.’  Astonished  and  incredulous,  I  asked  him 
the  reasons  for  knowing  these  particulars  by  the  tracks 
of  the  animal,  when  he  replied  :  ‘  It  was  a  stray  horse, 
because  it  did  not  go  in  a  direct  line  ;  his  tail  was  long, 
for  he  dragged  it  over  the  snow  ;  in  brushing  against  a 
bush  he  left  some  of  his  hair,  which  shows  its  color. 


OMENS  AND  SIGNS. 


249 


He  was  very  hungry,  for,  in  going  along,  he  has  nipped 
at  those  high,  dry  weeds,  which  horses  seldom  eat. 
The  fissure  of  the  left  fore-foot  left,  also,  its  track,  and 
the  depth  of  the  indentation  shows  the  degree  of  his 
lameness  ;  and  his  tracks  show  lie  was  here  this  morn¬ 
ing,  when  the  snow  was  hard  with  frost.’ 

“  At  another  place  we  came  across  an  Indian 
track,  and  he  said,  ‘It  is  an  old  Yankton,  who  came 
across  the  Missouri  last  evening  to  look  at  his  traps. 
In  coming  over  he  carried  in  his  light  hand  a  trap,  and 
in  his  left  a  lasso  to  catch  a  pony  which  he  had  lost. 
He  returned  without  finding  the  horse,  but  had  caught, 
in  the  trap  he  had  out  a  prairie  wolf,  which  he  carried 
home  on  his  back  and  a  bundle  of  kinikinic  wood  in 
his  right  hand.’  Then,  he  gave  his  reasons  :  ‘  I  know- 
lie  is  old,  by  the  impression  his  gait  has  made  and  a 
Yankton  by  that  of  his  moccasin.  He  is  from  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  as  there  are  no  Yanktons  on  this  side. 
The  trap  he  carried  struck  the  snow  now  and  then,  and 
in  same  manner  as  when  he  came,  shows  that  he  did 
not  find  his  pony.  A  drop  of  blood  in  the  centre  of 
his  tracks  shows  that  he  carried  the  wolf  on  his  back, 
and  the  bundle  of  kinikinic  wood  he  used  for  a  staff  for 
support,  and  catching  a  wolf,  shows  that  he  had  traps 
out.’  ‘  But,  I  asked,  how  do  you  know  it  is  a  wolf? 
why  not  a  fox  or  a  coyotte,  or  even  a  deer  ?  ’  Said  he, 

‘  If  it  had  been  a  fox,  or  a  coyotte,  or  any  other  small 

1/2 


250 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


game,  he  would  have  slipped  the  head  of  the  animal  iD 
his  waist  belt,  and  so  carried  it  bj  his  side,  and  not  on 
his  shoulders.  Deer  are  not  caught  by  traps,  but  if  it 
had  been  a  deer,  he  would  not  have  crossed  this  high 
hill,  but  would  have  gone  back  by  way  of  the  ravine, 
and  the  load  would  have  made  his  steps  still  more  tot¬ 
tering.’ 

“  Another  Indian  track  we  saw  twenty  miles  west 
of  this  he  put  this  serious  construction  upon  :  ‘  He  is 
an  upper  Indian — a  prowling  horse  thief — carried  a 
double-shot  gun,  and  is  a  rascal  that  killed  some  white 
man  lately,  and  passed  here  one  week  ago  ;  for,’  said 
he,  ‘  a  lone  Indian  in  these  parts  is  on  mischief,  and 
generally  on  the  lookout  for  horses.  He  had  on  the 
shoes  of  a  white  man  whom  he  had  in  all  probability 
killed,  but  his  steps  are  those  of  an  Indian.  Going 
through  the  ravine,  the  end  of  his  gun  hit  into  the  deep 
snow.  A  week  ago  we  had  a  very  warm  day,  and  the 
snow  being  soft,  he  made  these  deep  tracks  ;  ever  since 
it  has  been  intensely  cold  weather,  which  makes  very 
shallow  tracks.’  I  suggested  that  perhaps  he  bought 
those  shoes.  ‘  Indians  don’t  buy  shoes,  and  if  they 
did  they  would  not  buy  them  as  large  as  these  were, 
for  Indians  have  very  small  feet.’  The  most  noted 
trailer  of  this  country  was  Paul  Daloria,  a  half-breed, 
who  died  under  my  hands,  of  Indian  consumption, 
last  summer.  I  have  spoken  of  him  in  a  former  letter. 


OMENS  AND  SIGNS. 


251 


At  one  time  I  rode  with  him,  and  trailing  was  nat- 
lrally  the  subject  of  our  conversation.  I  begged  to 
trail  with  him  an  old  track  over  the  prairie,  in  order  to 
learn  its  history.  I  had  hardly  made  the  proposition, 
when  he  drew  up  his  horse,  which  was  at  a  ravine,  and 
said,  ‘  Well,  here  is  an  old  elk  track.  Let  us  get  off 
our  horses  and  follow  it.’  We  followed  it  hut  a  few 
rods,  when  he  said,  it  was  exactly  a  month  old,  and 
made  at  2  o’clock  in  the  afternoon.  This  he  knew,  as 
then  we  had  our  last  rain,  and  at  the  hour  named  the 
ground  was  softer  than  at  any  other  time.  The  track 
before  us  was  then  made.  He  broke  up  here  and  there 
clusters  of  grass  that  lay  in  the  path  of  the  track,  and 
showed  me  the  dry  ends  of  some,  the  stumps  of  others, 
and  by  numerous  other  similar  items  accounted  for 
many  circumstances  that  astonished  me.  We  followed 
the  trail  over  a  mile.  Now  and  then  we  saw  that  a 
wolf,  a  fox,  and  other  animals  had  practised  their  trail¬ 
ing  instincts  on  the  elk’s  tracks.  Here  and  there,  he 
would  show  me  where  a  snake,  a  rat,  and  a  prairie 
dog  had  crossed  the  track.  Nothing  had  followed  or 
crossed  the  track  that  the  quick  eye  of  Daloria  did  not 
detect.  He  gave  an  account  of  the  habits  of  all  the 
animals  that  had  left  their  foot-prints  on  the  track,  also 
of  the  state  of  the  wTeather  since  the  elk  passed,  and 
the  effect  of  sunshine,  winds,  aridity,  sand  storms,  and 
other  influences  that  had  a  bearing  on  these  tracks.” 


252 


JETS  OF  NEW  MEANINGS. 


The  true  philosopher  will  observe  the  entire  absence 
of  ‘‘  superstition  ”  in  all  the  methods  and  convictions 
of  the  wild  trailer  of  the  far  West.  His  observations 
are  correct  and  of  practical  value,  because  strictly  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  and  teachings  of  cause  and 
effect.  He  has  recourse  to  no  mysterious  proceedings, 
incantations,  fortune-telling  crystals,  or  other  witch- 
craftiness,  which  are  so  popular  with  omen-believers 
and  the  very  superstitious.  But,  instead,  you  mark 
the  honest  regard  for  facts  in  the  nature  and  habits  of 
the  animals  and  persons  which  inhabit  that  part  of  the 
world.  Somewhat  of  this  natural  sturdy  accuracy,  and 
somewhat  of  this  anti-superstitious  knowledge  of  the 
laws  and  facts  of  life,  may  be  incorporated  into  the 
education  of  every  human  mind. 


